The One Ring To Rule Them All Wait What
by RhythmUnseen
Summary: Skye and Andy have graduated Beacon and have started their dream careers as Huntresses. Despite escaping the facility and reuniting against all odds they fight for their place in the world and build their home. Sometimes the past is just a shadow but for them the figures that creep within their depths are more than just memories.
1. Chapter 1

**Writer's Note: So this is a time skip story line after the events and the two dorks' lives as students at Beacon. The whole Beacon arc and time frame was the RP that my friends and I started which, like many RPs, was never fully fleshed out nor was it completed. In short though, Andy and Skye reunited at the first orientation that was held for the first years, Bash being his idiot self making Skye chase him through the crowd until she ran into Andy. Their reunion was heartfelt but hurtful and their relationship was far from healed. It took them days to finally make up and even then the secrets from the past that they kept from one another chipped away at their newfound fragile bond. The rest of it is history we never got to fully delve into but I hope i touched on enough in these pieces to explain.**

* * *

"You know," I bellowed, crouching over as a whirlwind of razor sharp feathers rained down on me, "when I said take cover I didn't mean me!"

There was a tap on my chest plate as I heard a chuckle.

"Well robo-cripple, you just make the best shield," C-ydna shouted back, half laughing and half sounding like he was on mirth. "Plus you wouldn't want your pretty little Andy all bruised and purple now would ya? Ha he ha hehe," he laughed again.

"As I told you before," I turned and began shooting, "that body is on loan to you."

He dashed out from behind me, leaping into the fray as I shouted, "You idiot!"

Though the scene I saw through my visor was chaotic, everything was dying down. We had gotten a message about a band of unruly Grimm traveling too close to human populations. Their path put them directly in line with the city so they sent us out to deal with them. When we arrived here it was a mismatched group, some fliers, lots of ground types, not unusual nowadays to see. So we immediately got to work. Basher was dealing with the last Beowulf, Andy or C-ydna was going to help. Spira was up in the sky 50 ft above, having a dogfight with another Nevermore.

It was difficult to shoot at the other Nevermore, with it and Spira constantly spinning and diving at each other. With the help of my armor though I was able to put two shells into its wing, severely crippling it and giving Spira the upper hand. Within moments the other Nevermore fell from the sky, landing in the pile of melting Grimm corpses that were scattered around C-ydna and Basher.

"Who's a good Grimm? Who's a good Grimm?" C-ydna said in a puppy voice, scratching Bash.

"You know he's an idiot and doesn't get that you're insulting him," I said walking up to them as Spira landed beside us. "Alright C-ydna, time for you to go."

"Tcch," he scoffed, "well I don't wanna. I like it out here. I like it he he free! Plus it's so… sooo… FUN getting to make Grimm explode, like confetti!"

I swatted his hand away from Basher much to his disdain. He clenched his fist but made no move to attack me. Even with that I had to grip tight on the fear that threatened to burst forth from within me. Years had changed nothing about what I thought and felt about him.

I took a moment to step out of my armor after scanning the area to make sure everything was dead. Leaving it standing on sentry mode I went over to confront him.

"C-ydna, you know our deal," I said sternly, trying to sound intimidating.

He crossed Andy's arms then sighed, "Fine! You're no fun! After all I did to protect your precious Andy. You should be hovelling at my feet and kissing the ground beneath me. Cripple."

I shuddered at the word but didn't let it phase me. I had become kind of used to C-ydna's insults and taunts, sometimes it was fun to jab back at him.

"You know, me and Andy could always put you back on meds," now that made C-ydna shutter. I knew that it was a weak threat, the medicine never truly stopping him but it did annoy him.

"Bah! Those things just make me feel all… _nice!_ Not me, not C-ydna at all," he cackled. Once he was done he turned back to me, "Okay, get it over with."

He closed her eyes as I stepped up, taking her shoulder with one hand, her ear with the other. As I drew close I closed my eyes. It was very quiet and when my lips touched Andy's I could feel C-ydna flinch, disgusted by the act and especially since I was on the other end. Soon though I could feel the tension cease and the lips began to kiss me back. It was a beautiful thing and I always lost myself a bit.

A solid fist connected with my gut and I staggered back, taking a knee and trying to catch my breath.

"C-ydna?" I gasped, the fear now seeping through the cage I had erected around it.

"No, Andy," she said scowling at me.

It was Andy, I saw it in the way she stood and the feel of her aura. Her eyes were kind, gentle, her hands were soft and cautious. She was warm and caring, not callous and violent like C-ydna.

"Then why?" I stammered, getting to my feet.

"Because you used your body to shield me you idiot!" she yelled, hitting me on the top of the head like a child.

"Wh-what?" I said as I shielded myself from her fist. "Hey, woah! I just told C-ydna to take cover!"

"Yeah, and you used your body to cover mine! You dolt, C-ydna can protect me just fine! You should trust him more," she said as she took off her weapons.

"Uh might I remind you that I'm the one wearing hundreds of pounds of reinforced armor. That very armor that just protected your pretty little ass," I said, shaking a finger at her.

"Oh so you were looking?" she said in an offended voice.

"W-well… I mean… Hey! Not fair!"

"No playing with my tail for the rest of the week."

It was Monday.

"Th-that's not fair!" I shouted trailing behind her as she went over to Basher.

She dropped her things next to him and sighed, her shoulders slouching down. Quick as she was she bolted around and had her arms wrapped around me. I hugged her back as she squeezed me tight.

"I just couldn't stand it if you got hurt. We've made it this far, don't put yourself in needless danger because of me," she said softly into my chest.

"And I couldn't look at myself if I let you get hurt," I hummed back as I stroked her fox ears. "Remember I'm the one with the healing semblance. I've gotten better at it too."

"Yeah but I don't like you exhausting yourself all the time."

"I don't mind."

"I do."

"Say that next time you're sick."

"Meh."

"Andy?"

"Hmmm?"

"I just… well…" my hand went to rub the shaved side of my head where my lark tattoo was.

Andy knowing my habit stopped my fidgety hand and kissed me, "I know."

I smiled, warmth flooding my face despite the cold air. "We should head home."

"Yeah we should," she said.

Basher joined in with a bellowing bark that, combined with Spira's caw, filled the air with a Grimm kind of glee. Andy picked up her gear and I packed up the Coffin, having it fold back into its case. After a quick search of the area for anything we might've missed we went over to the Grimm.

In the years since we had rescued them from the facility and our time at Beacon they had both grown immensely. My hopes that they would stay pet sized were dashed now that Basher was about as big as a grown bear. He was loyal and idiotic as ever but now was huge. One dumb, oversized teddy bear. Spira had grown too but thankfully she wasn't as big as a Nevermore. She had leveled out at about a tenth the size of a true Nevermore but she was still gigantic. Her wingspan alone was near 75 feet and she stood almost 50 feet tall. With her growth she grew ever more majestic. Thankfully she helped keep Bash in line.

Andy packed her gear in one of the saddlebags strapped to Bash's back while I strapped my armor case to the other side. The idiot tried to scratch his armor plates under the straps but couldn't reach cause of his stubby legs. Andy laughed, scratching his back for him before jumping into the saddle.

"You know you should be the one riding Basher. You two get along so well," Andy teased from high on his back.

"Yeah, as well as… I had something catchy but I forgot. He still an idiot!" I said, giving Spira's chin a good scratch. Before Andy could retort I shouted, "And besides, Nevermores and Skyes just go together!"

The moment I leapt onto Spira's back she was up in the air.

* * *

I squeezed my legs tight around Spira's neck, making sure I wouldn't fall of. Sitting in the crease of her neck and her wing I had a perfect seat for riding. I could feel her every breath, the strong beat of her wings, and the slight shifts of her armory feathers beneath me. Bending down low I peaked at the ground, spotting Bash galloping quite gracefully for such a fat idiot. Andy was bent low just like me, flat against his back so she didn't fall of but as she looked up I could see that she was smiling. Content that they were okay I sat back and enjoyed the wind that rushed against my face. After a while I laid back, Spira casting a curious glance over her shoulder before returning her gaze forward.

Normally we would take the Beacon ships out to where we needed to go but our circumstances required unique transport since we had the two idiots along with us. Plus it was hard to beat flying like this. Up here I was free.

Another bonus was that my thoughts were never clearer, flying with Spira. Something about the wind whipping my hair about and whistling in my ear was therapeutic. It gave me time to reminisce about all the time that had past. The four years at Beacon had gone by so fast. After running into Andy that first day at the opening ceremony we had our problems but it all worked out. Things were like normal again except we finally had our dream, we had our freedom, and then we also had a new dream to become Huntresses. The studies and test were hard, mainly cause I was always procrastinating and Andy was always trying to make me study. She could never beat me in the fights and combat training though but that presented us with the problem of C-ydna. Andy had gained more control but there were still times when he would pop out. The three of us had managed to come to an agreement though and everything worked itself out. He would be allowed to fight during our battles like he always did and in return he would let Andy remain in control.

Then there was the problem with my head. It was late when we finally realized what the doctors at the facility had done to me. The flashbacks weren't enough and so I had moments when my memory would fail me. Those episodes were frightening to say the least, not for me but for Andy because all of a sudden she had to deal with me back at the facility or me when I was still living back home. I never remembered a thing but would always come back to a teary eyed fox holding onto me. It took a while but with some help and discrete advice from some of the teachers we found the problem and I was able to fix it with my semblance. Andy didn't like that… I did it without her permission and it put me into a coma for a couple weeks but it worked.

Afterwards things went smoothly and we soon graduated, Andy and me of course electing to stick together. We began our work as Huntresses, it didn't take long for us to make a name for ourselves. Well more accurately it was the two idiots that made us more notable. Everyone, _everyone_ was trying to off them our first year as students. I swear I got more sparring done by fighting off other students than actually going to class. It took a long ass time before we got enough people to understand that they were my pets and not like normal Grimm. With that they became mascots. Some of the teachers wanted to do some experiments on them but Andy and I put a stop to that real quick. By the time we graduated they were the giants they were now and as we started working as Huntresses they were the signature of our pair. They started to call us Grimm Riders.

"It sure has been a while since the facility," I said, sitting up on top of Spira.

Spira cawed in response, ruffling her feathers as if the mention of the place irritated her.

"I know, I know, me too," I muttered, pulling the necklace I wore out from underneath my shirt.

The old thing look good as new despite all the beating I had dragged it through. Its silver sheen was bright and its edges were perfectly curved. The vines wrapping around each other, etched and carved into the ring, still gave it an elegant feel. I had kept it safe and a secret from Andy throughout the years. There had been plenty of moments when I could've but I simply couldn't muster the confidence to ask, even after all these years. I had pulled out my hair mulling it about and I knew more than anything else I wanted to ask her but I was… afraid.

"AAAAAAAAARRRRGHHH!" I screamed aloud, the howling wind whisking away my voice.

Spira dived suddenly but quickly righted herself… without telling me. My face slammed into her neck, the ring held out in front me.

"Spira you ass!" I plucked feathers from her neck vigorously until she banked sharply to the right, almost throwing me off.

I regained my grip on her neck with my legs and sat up, rubbing my forehead where the ring had left an imprint. It felt like a swollen circle making me curse. Tucking the necklace and ring back under my shirt I gave it a good pat just to make sure it was there.

We neared our destination and Spira began a gentle dive. She flew over a clearing where one of Beacon's airships was parked and waiting. Spira circled around a few times before flapping her wings rapidly to bring her to a hover, landing on the ground with a thud. Bash and Andy came barreling out of the woods a minute later.

"Enjoy your ride?" I said, helping her slide down from Bash.

"As much as you enjoyed yours," she took a hand and smoothed my wild hair.

I gave her ears a good scratch making her hum, "Don't make me bite you."

"Later," she whispered.

We went over to the saddlebags and unpacked them, bringing them to the airship. Our two pilots came out to greet us. They were called Ken and Marcy and had been our pilots ever since we graduated. It was understandable, people were prejudiced against Grimm and getting people to work with us was difficult. Basher actually messed up their ship pretty bad the first time we met but after a couple drinks and some time with the idiots they warmed up to them. When they heard of our troubles with the other airship pilots they gladly volunteered to fly us.

Marcy came over as we put the last of our things into their airship, "So… has Basher got any better?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Andy feeding Bash a large pile of meat. He was eating and trying to scratch his ear with one of his hind legs at the same time, looking like an idiot.

"No, he's still deathly afraid of heights. Don't worry, we spiked the meat. He should be ready to go," I whispered back.

Andy ran over to us with a worried look on her face.

"Andy what's wrong?"

"The drugs in the meat… they aren't working!" she shrilled.

"Shit!"

At that moment Ken decided to pop his head out the cockpit and yell, "Hey is Bash ready to fly?!"

Hearing 'fly' Basher went berserk. Well he tried, apparently the spiked meat did have a little effect on him. He ran around the clearing, smashing into trees and tripping over his own feet like he was drunk. His paws dug up mounds of dirt and he'd kick up more dust whenever he fell or rolled onto his back.

"Aw gods damn it," I cursed, running to get my shotgun.

By the time I got a tranquilizer round in him Spira had Bash pinned to the ground. Exasperated my shotgun hit the ground and I rested my head against the barrel. All the exertions from today's mission felt like they came crashing down on my body, weighing and slowing me down.

Ken, Marcy, and Spira worked to get Basher into a harness while Andy rushed over to me.

"Bird, Skye are you alright?" she said, looking me all over for wounds.

"Heh," I chuckled, "I'm fine ya dumb fox, just tired."

"Go inside and rest, we can handle everything else."

"Okay," I said, dragging myself to my feet. I gave her ears a rough scratch before going inside the airship and passing out.

* * *

"Skye, Skye wake up, we're almost there."

I felt drowsy from my nap, the light shake from Andy the only thing keeping me awake.

"Skye stop sleeping you lazy bum! Come on, wake up."

I waited until her head was close and then pulled her head to my chest so I could bite her ear.

"Ouch!" she said, pushing away from me.

"Hahahaa," I laughed, "sorry! It's a reaction."

"Gah!" she scowled, scratching her ear as it flicked about.

I sat up from the uncomfortable seat in the airship. These things really weren't made for comfort. The seats and backers were rigid and barely had any padding. They were meant to cram as many people in as possible and get them from place to place. It was another reason why I preferred riding Spira.

"Where are we?" I yawned, scratching the buzzed side of my head.

"About 15 minutes from Beacon," Andy said, sitting next to me.

"And the two idiots?"

Andy directed my gaze outside through the window. About a hundred feet to our right was Spira flying formation with our airship. In the air she looked like a single white flying wing, rigid and unstoppable. If it wasn't for the black parts of her head and body I wouldn't be able to see her amongst the clouds. Suspended a ways below us by some complex rigging was Basher's fat ass. Because of his mass and… fear of heights we had to always find a way to knock him out. Today's drugged meat was another more passive attempt than the usual ways. He slept soundly though, hanging below us with his limbs dangling below him.

"As much as I like using Bash for target practice we really need to find a better way," I muttered.

"Yeah," Andy hummed as she leaned against my shoulder, "but everything we try usually doesn't work. His Grimm physiology is just so resilient."

I hummed my agreement and rested my head on Andy's, blowing air on her fox ears just to tease her. We landed at Beacon, a team having to unstrap Bash before the airship could put down. By that time he was stirring from his slumber but our landing crew was like our pilots, they knew us and were used to it. Andy and I disembarked, leaving the slowly waking Basher in the care of Spira. Again they got the attention of everyone nearby, looks of awe, a few of appreciation, and a good many of disdain. We both had to head into the academy and give our reports before we could call it a day. By the time we were done the sun was only a few finger widths above the horizon and the sky was already a mural of oranges, pinks, and yellows.

"Ready to go home?" I asked Andy, grabbing my gear.

"Yeah but let's walk, it's nice out."

"Sure thing," I smiled.

Spira followed us in the air as we exited Beacon and walked through Vale. Basher followed us, stalking on the street and causing a few traffic jams. A lot of kids ran up to him to pet or scratch his hide which he loved, barking or licking them gleefully. We made our way past stores and shops, stopping by the market to grab some groceries. It was another beautiful spring evening in Vale.

I let myself chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Andy.

"It's just… unreal, don't you think? I mean look at us, Huntresses! Grimm Rider!" I exclaimed flamboyantly.

"Hehehe, yes that name was a little much but it was you who broke them out from the facility," she nudged my side with her elbow. I flicked her ear in return.

"But that's what I mean. We… we… we made it," and suddenly silent tears fell from my eyes.

"Skye are you okay?!" she said frantically, taking hold of my shoulders. "Is it a flashback?! You're not back at the-."

I pulled her tail to get her to stop her worrying, making her jump five feet in the air.

"I said no tail!" she scowled, yanking my ear.

"Owowowowow! I'msorryI'msorry! You were just going into nurse mode. I'm fine. I just never thought we would be here," the pressure of the ring underneath my shirt felt like a million tons.

"Well we are," she said softly, looping her arm around my neck.

"No fox, I mean… I never _believed_ that we would make it."

Andy's arms went rigid around me. Even after all the years it was a touchy subject. We had barely talked about it. I think… this might've been the first time either of us had said it aloud. I don't know why I even mentioned it. I guess I was feeling nostalgic.

"Yes… I thought the same thing too my bird," her arms tightened around my neck. "All the tests… the experiments… it was like…"

"We'd die before they let us out," I finished her sentence. "Gah we were stupid back then. Hopeless and stupid."

Andy nuzzled into me, "No we were only practical, being kids that were forced into becoming adults. We accepted a possibility."

I sighed, glancing sideways to see Bash push a car that got stuck in the middle of the road. He butted his head surprisingly gentle against its bumper and pushed it to the side. Whenever the cars behind him began to honk their horns he turned and let loose a growl that drowned them out before continuing on his way.

"Yeah but we fought. My Gods we fought. We made it too and escaped, well some sooner than others," I teased, nipping her ear.

"Hey! Don't make me get C-ydna out here!" she said making me tense up out of habit. "Haha, I've told you again and again I had to stay. They helped me control C-ydna and better understand him," she said warmly.

"Tcccch! I like pina coladas and getting drenched in the rain of blood," C-ydna said suddenly.

Andy froze and clasped her hands over her mouth as if she let out a Grimm sized burp. C-ydna suddenly appearing made me leap back into a lamp post. It took us a few moment but we both cracked into laughter, albeit a very frightened one.

The sun had set by the time we reached our home although its light crept over the horizon to flood the sky with a rainbow of color. We stopped outside on the sidewalk to admire our first real home. Once we graduated we stayed in the academy housing for a while. It was hard to do any sort of house hunting for us. There was no agreeing on a place between us. I was used to motels and alleys so I was completely fine with a small apartment. Andy on the other hand threw out every brochure I brought back, or fed them to Basher. She kept looking at houses and kept saying they didn't feel right or homey. She drove me insane. Then there was the problem of the Grimm too, neither of our ideas were feasible due to their size. For that we needed an excessive amount of space. At the end of the day we were both searching for something that wasn't there, something that we had already made, our home at the facility. So that began our project, building our own house beam by beam and brick by brick. It went surprisingly fast, with the help of our friends and the two idiots. In no time at all it was finished.

Our home was simple, one story, a plain color with an angled roof and a front porch. It was a brick and concrete foundation and had dark wood paneled outsides. We walked up the stairs onto the stained porch and stepped through the front door. Inside was spacious but small, we didn't need much space. Everything was practically the same as the facility, our living room and couches, the kitchen off to the side, and our room in the back. We had made some adjustments, making the living room larger, adding more appliances and space to the kitchen, getting a tub for the bathroom, and adding a guest room. Even then it was in essence a larger replica of our apartment back in Atlas. We even had our picture wall, now crowded with photos.

"It's your turn to cook," I said to Andy as I took her gear and mind and stowed it away.

"Awwww… I'm tired though. Could definitely use a nap."

"A cat nap?" I chuckled, dodging her attempt to tackle me.

"Fox. Fooooooooooooox. F-O-X! You really need to go back to school," she teased.

"Haha okay fooooooox! Why don't we just order food?"

"No way! You eat too much fast food. You're going to get fat. Too fat for Spira to carry you!" she grabbed my sides as if to show me.

"Hey! That tickles. It's up to you fox," I said, scratching her ears.

"Fine, but you have to feed the Grimm," she said, strolling off to the kitchen.

"Gotcha."

I went to the back of the house but stopped in front of all our photos. There were many from the facility that Andy had saved and brought with her to Vale. There were even more of us during our school years and a good few of us working afterwards. We had put so many on the wall that the photos began to cover up the edges of each other, crammed into what space we had on the wall. I was looking for two in particular though, placed neatly in the center of the rest of them. The photo of Andy that I had carried on me for years was ragged, creased, and crinkled but still her beautiful smile shone through it all. Beside it was the very first photo of us, standing in the night of the town in Atlas, weaved into an embrace of arms and lips. Those two were the very first photos that had been put on the wall. No matter how much time past they were the photos that I cherished and loved the most.

Having them on the wall was also a turning point for me. Seeing up there meant that I didn't have them on me, I didn't have to carry them anymore. I didn't have to worry about being alone during the day or if a flashback suddenly overwhelmed me. I didn't need those pictures anymore because I wasn't alone, I had the real life Andy right here with me.

I went through the hallway, past the bathroom and our bedroom out the backdoor onto the porch. I took in a deep breath as I gazed upon the other reason we built our own home. We had built our house on the outskirts of town. We barely had any neighbors and were far away from the city, stores, basically anything. It's not like we wanted to be alone but it was what we were used to. The main reason is that the Grimm needed room and our backyard had more than enough of that. Idiots one and two had a boundless amount of space since we were on the edge of town on the dividing line between nature and civilization.

"Hey there guys," I said lovingly. Despite all their faults they were still close to my heart.

Basher was trying to clean his front paw but was left partially numb from the drug, his tongue hanging out his maw uselessly. Spira was high up in a perch, staring out at the horizon. Going over to a large mechanism I pulled a lever, dumping raw red meat into two gigantic trays. They were both too heavy for me to carry alone but my pets thankfully came over and took their meals away from the dispenser. Feeding the two of them was certainly a task that had become almost impossible since they had grown so large. It was only until that Basher saved the owner of a meat distributor that our problem was solved. He graciously supplied us with enough food to feed Spira and Basher… after making Basher the icon of his business.

"Thanks for all the help today," I said, stroking Spira's neck. "Oh and sorry for having to shoot you again Bash. You know if we ever go broke we're cooking you to survive right?"

That made him jump with terror and crawl under Spira's wing. Somethings never change. As Spira coaxed him out, more by annoyance than by worry, I sat on the back porch watching the last bits of light fade from the sky. The two Grimm ate voraciously, cleaning and grooming themselves after they were done. Their gleaming blue eyes were jeweled pinpricks in the darkness that I could lose myself in. My hand presses against the collar of my shirt, feeling the ring's circular imprint.

"What am I going to do guys?" I asked my Grimm, not knowing if they were listening or not. "I should've asked her years ago. I should've asked her when we I saw her again at the opening ceremony. I've been holding onto this thing for years knowing what I want to do but I can't because… because…" I dropped my head, the tears falling from my eyes, "because I'm a damn coward."

Spira noticed immediately, pecking one of Basher's armored plates. Bash gave his maw one last wipe with his paw before trudging over and laying next to my legs.

"If you lick me with your rancid smelling mouth I will shoot you again," I growled as I saw him sticking out his tongue. Whining he instead nudged his snout on my leg gently for a grizzly sized Grimm. "Idiot," I mumbled softly.

My Nevermore waited until Bash was in place before coming over too, sitting on her haunches. Her huge head maneuvered itself over my legs, resting on my lap with her bowling ball sized eye staring straight at me.

"What?" I said, laying my forehead against her brow. "It's true you know. I bought this damn ring with what little money I had on me. I accepted in my heart that I would never see Andy again and still I bought it to what, remind me that I had fucked up everything, that I ran away from the only person I loved?" I took out my flask from my jacket pocket and took a swig of liquor. "I bought it so that if I ever saw her again… if by some miracle we met once more… that I'd make things right… but after all these years I haven't mustered the courage to ask her…"

I kept drinking from my flask until it was half gone. The effects were immediate but dull, not enough to send me into a drunken stupor but enough to dull my senses. My tears didn't stop so I cried silently, not bothering to dry my cheeks. Spira's breathing slowed but then from deep within her came her song. It was quiet at first but gained strength, a sort of melancholy joy to its tune. If I wasn't so lost in my own miserable crucible of thoughts I could've discerned some meaning to her melody but I didn't.

"Dinner's ready," Andy said, coming out the backdoor.

I slipped the ring back under my shirt quickly.

"Spira's singing again. It's beautiful when she sings," Andy said coming up behind me.

She bowed her head elegantly to Andy then stalked off and with a powerful beat of her wings took off into the night. Bash leapt up with his front paws on the porch, nuzzling Andy with his brow.

"Hi Basher," she giggled, pushing him away before he knocked her over. He gave me one last worried glance before running off into the night, leaving me alone with Andy.

"Hey Skye, did you hear? I said dinner is ready," she paused when she saw the flask in my hand. "Skye, how many times do I have to tell you," she stepped down off the porch, "no more drinki-."

Andy froze seeing my red eyes and wet face.

"Skye what's wrong?" she asked, taking me by the shoulders. When I didn't look up she softly caressed my face and rose my head so that she could look me in the eye. "Skye talk to me. I'm right here."

I smiled and must've looked ridiculous, a happy face with sad eyes.

"It's nothing my fox, just thinking about the past."

"Are you sure it's not a flashback?" slightly reassured she sat next to me and took me in her arms. I leaned into her shoulder appreciatively.

"I'm sure. They're just memories."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not now, maybe later," I said, the ring's weight ever present resting against my collar.

"Okay, but no more drinking."

"Only if you give me your tail."

"I said no tail!"

"Then I'm going to be very drunk tonight, hehe."

"Then I might have to drink all your alcohol before you can."

"You wouldn't make it. Remember what happened last time?"

"Nothing you can prove."

"I have the photos and the videos."

"I-I-I, b-b-but, you… you said you deleted them!"

"Maybe, maybe not," I chuckled.

"Hmpf. Well come on, dinner's getting cold," Andy said, picking me up from the porch.

"Okay my love," I whispered, walking in Andy's arms back into the house.


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING, CAUTION, WARNING, DANGER WILL ROBINSON... (okay sorry for the bad joke) The following chapter contains raunchy sex and elements of bdsm. If that's not your cup of tea look away, divert your eyes, run away! If those things are something you're interested in *cough* uhm... please enjoy!**

A soft but insistent alarm drug me out of my slumber. My eyes struggled to open and even then in the morning haze my vision was blurry. The clock on the wall said it was seven o'clock but I knew it wasn't my alarm clock that had woke me, it was an incoming call. Andy rolled about next to me, burying her sensitive ears into my chest.

"Uuuugggghhh… make it stop. My ears," she whined.

"Don't worry fox, I'll get it," I said groggily, kissing her ears.

I pushed myself up with some effort, years of routine had made my legless mornings easier. Grabbing hold of my wheelchair I heaved my body over into it. Andy decided to be helpful and gave me a kick in the back, so my precise maneuver turned into a desperate fall. The wheelchair toppled over with me on top, dumping me onto the floor.

"Andy you ass!" I yelled from the ground.

"Hurry," she growled from above although I could hear her snickering. "And that is for drinking last night."

"Fuck!" I sighed but chuckled too, crawling over to the doorway.

There was a monitor beside our door that buzzed every second with the 'Incoming Call' flashing on it. I tried to reach up and hit the answer button but couldn't reach. A click and flash came from behind me and then more snickering.

"Andy did you just… oh I hate you. I really, really hate you," I said annoyingly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the dumb fox hiding under the sheet.

I tried once more to reach for the panel but it might as well be a mile high in the sky. Growling once more I keyed a bracelet on my wrist and there was a mechanical whine from the living room. The ground then shook as my Coffin thumped into the room. The bracelet on my wrist was a new addition that let me input manual commands to my exoskeleton but also was a neural link to my armor, allowing me to control it to an extent with my thoughts. It squeezed through the doorway, sliding its arms under my legs and back and lifted me into the air.

"Hello this Skye Miriage," I said keying the monitor, "if you're looking for Andy the annoying ass fox she'll is currently scheduled to be summarily executed by tickling."

"Hey no fair! Using your armor is cheating and I'd love to see you try to tickle me!"

"In due time, and oh…" I paused seeing who was calling.

On the panel in front of me was our handler from Beacon Excelsior who gave us all our missions. He was a rather stern kind of person with a military haircut and a stoic face.

"Good Morning Huntress Skye," he greeted me, eyeing my odd posture in the cradle of my armor.

"A-ah, good morning… Pardon my situation, Andy was… never mind. What is it?" I bumbled through my words. Andy gasped behind me realizing who was calling.

"We just wanted to inform you that you needn't come in today. Your debrief yesterday was satisfactory as was the completion of your mission," he relayed devoid of emotion.

"Thank you," I said, shifting in my armor's arms annoyingly. Excelsior's demeanor got old real quick. "Is that all?"

"That's all," he ended the call and the monitor faded to a symbol of Beacon before returning to display the weather and news.

I heard a shuffling behind me but expecting that I made my armor stand in the doorway, its size making it impossible to pass. Using one arm I made the Coffin hang me near my legs, hopping into them with the usual scream.

"So… Andy," I breathed heavily as the pain subsided. "That was mean. You were naughty."

"O-oh, S-Skye… come on," she said nervously, clutching the bedsheet around her.

She tried to dart around me but I was quicker, tackling her onto the bed. I held her arms outstretched above her and pressed my body into hers.

"I wasn't lying about the ticking. Show me the photo," I hissed.

"N-no!" she squealed, her hips squirming beneath me.

I trailed kisses up her collarbone and then lingered on her lips.

"Show me."

"Ne-ne-ne-never," she moaned.

"I thought last night might've been enough," I whispered into her fox ear, "but I guess I'll have to punish you this morning. I was too kind."

Andy groaned, "Please… no…" but it sounded more like _please yes_.

My hands began to use the sheets to tie her up while I planned out some delicious plans in my mind. We had made love many times over the years, most of the time it depended on how busy our schedule was. The… games from the facility had carried over although it was difficult to find the privacy during our studies. With our own house we occasionally played them again but with definite caution. C-ydna was subdued now yet it always haunted me how he used everything against us.

I had her nice and 'giftwrapped,' my hand on her chest, another on her behind, and my lips caressed her nether. Another chime interrupted our morning and I sighed explosively, making Andy suppress a yelp as I let my anger get the better of me.

"Stay right here," I growled playfully, sliding a vibro-egg between her legs. I turned it on and put the remote on her belly.

"Like… Ah… I c-could… MMmmm… go… any-any-an-aahhhh," she moaned before I stuffed some sheets into her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Can't have whoever is at the door hearing you my pet. The morning has had too many interruption and it's pissing me off so… I plan on working my stress out… on you," I hummed, giving her chest a last painful squeeze before I got off the bed. For a moment I watched gleefully as Andy struggled against the sheets that were holding her down while her hips bucked with vibrations. "I'll be right back… maybe," and got the delicious pleasure of seeing disbelief and desperation in her eyes as she gave the sheets another tug.

Quickly I grabbed a robe and tossed it on, tying it securely so that my body was covered. To be honest I was quaking with sexual tension and I didn't want whoever was at the door noticing. I closed the door and locked it, another muffled moaned came from beyond. Doing a once over in the mirror I was satisfied that I looked normal and went to answer the door. I keyed the external camera to see who was outside and gasped in shock.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I shrilled, seeing Andy's and my family outside.

I ran back into my bedroom, shutting the door and running straight into my armor which was standing off to the side.

"Shit, mother gods damn!" the curse words flowed from my mouth like a waterfall.

Andy was in bliss on the bed and utterly lost in ecstasy. Her expecting eyes gazed at me longingly wanting whatever I had planned next. I froze momentarily, dumbfounded by the bound beauty. She was covered in sweat and more streamed from between her legs. Her nipples were hard and erect while her fox ears drooped low until a rush of pleasure made them stand on end. Those luscious eyes were blank with joy. And still she struggled against the tied sheets.

I rushed over and removed the sheets from her mouth which was a mistake. I had to clamp my hand over her mouth to silence the stream of moans.

"Andy, Andy, listen to me," I whispered frantically but she was overwhelmed. "Hey this is not a joke," I pulled the vibro-egg out of her unceremoniously causing her to buck wildly as she screamed into my hand. "Oh fuck sorry. Andy, fuck, Andy, Eclipse!" I said our safeword into her ear.

That finally got her attention and her eyes finally focused on me. She stopped moaning into my hand and relaxed as much as she could.

"Wh-what… is it?" she sighed when I removed my hand.

I immediately began to untie her hands speaking at the same time. "Our families are here."

"What?!"

"They're here."

"Is this another of your games?"

"No I said fucking Eclipse Andy! They're here. I forgot the day and they showed up early. They must've checked in with Beacon when they arrived and found out we had the day off."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"I would Andy but I don't think playing with our families watching would be an enjoyable game. PS you're cute when you curse."

She cursed more as I got both her hands free. Andy rarely ever cursed and hearing vulgarity from someone who was not vulgar was funny. But this was no time for funny business, as I worked on one of her legs while she worked on the other. I helped her off the bed once she was untied and threw my robe onto her.

"Skye you need to put on some clothes!" she hissed as I sloppily covered our bed and hid the evidence of our morning.

"Shit!" I said, throwing on a tank top and some shorts hastily.

I grabbed a towel and wiped Andy down real quick while she tried to fix my hair. As I turned to head to the door she came up behind me, sliding her arms beneath mine and grabbed hold of each of my breasts. I hissed as I gave into the pleasure.

"We'll finish this later," she bit my ear eliciting another groan from me. "I have to repay you."

My only answer was a groan as she squeezed hard before releasing me. Fuck my hard nipples would show through my tank top. Andy scurried to the door while I took a moment to gather myself, stumbling over to the kitchen.

"Skye!" Andy shrilled, her hand on the doorknob. "The bedroom!"

My head shot around and saw the bedroom door ajar, the vibro-egg on the floor and the bed looking like a mess. I leapt over the furniture, shutting and locking it just as Andy opened the front door.

"Andy!" I heard my mom cry gleefully, stepping through the threshold to embrace her. "My, my you look wonderful, a bit disheveled. A late start to the morning?"

"Ha ha," Andy laughed nervously, "you could say that."

"A late start, looks more like a rough start dear," a deeper voice resounded from behind my mother. "Now where is Skye?"

I was walking to the door when my dad's comment tripped me up, causing me to stumble into Andy. I smirked stupidly at him, rubbing my lark tattoo nervously.

"Hi Da."

My Dad beamed at me from across the doorway. He was tall, about six foot, but somewhat thin although he was strong from his work at his mechanic shop. His profession was evident in the little specks of dirt on his button up shirt, the small tear on his jeans, the faint smell of dust, the black stains on his hands and under his nails that he could never quite clean out. His green eyes were dulled with his age, surrounded by small wrinkles, but I knew they were sharp. He sported a groomed goatee and long black hair that went past his ears. Dad's presence always felt protective just as my Mom's aura was that of kindness and unparalleled caring.

He bent over and kissed me on the forehead. "Rough start to the morning?" his voice was strong and deep but he spoke with a conscious care not to seem overpowering or loud.

I took Andy's hand on instinct to stop both our jitters, "You could say that. How are you doing Da? Is the shop alright?"

My Dad dragged his fingers through his hair like a comb, reminding me well of my own habit. What, I was my father's daughter after all.

"The shop is doing swell. Only two explosions this month," at Andy's gasp he added, "just kidding."

"I'm sorry I don't visit," I said softly, dropping my gaze.

"No, it's fine darling. I know you have work here. Plus there's always Robin to keep us company," he said, glancing over his shoulder.

I followed his gaze to see my little sister, taller, her bright red hair still a storm, and curves beginning to grace her body. She had just become a teenager and taking after me had developed a sense of rough albeit subdued punkish-ness.

"Hey Red, you gonna give me a hug or what?"

My little flying ball of fire ran up and gave clench her arms tight around me. Despite her new appearance she was the same old little runt of a sister to me. I loved her dearly no matter what.

"What's up Onee-chan?" her cute voice clashed with the slang made me grin.

"Hahaha I love the new look, wonder who you got it from," I teased, looking in the air as if in thought.

She gave my arm a quick jab, "Isn't it obvious?" We both laughed.

As I messed with Robin our last guest stepped into view and I felt a sort of reverence fall over me. Andy's mom Teresa looked as proper as ever, straight backed and very composed, her wrinkles more pronounced from past stress.

"Mother," Andy said stepping forward.

"Oh Andy, there's no need to be so formal," she said, wrapping her arms around Andy. Her nun-like reverence broken she revealed her true self, a very loving mother. My fox hugged her mother back tightly. "It's always so good to see you."

"And you," Andy said, almost on the verge of tears.

I understood her yearning to cry. The relationship with her mother for most of her life was a contemptuous one. With how her father and mother sold her to the Atlas facility Andy had harbored a deep rooted disdain for her parents, something she kept hidden from me for years. Her father was now gone… murdered, by C-ydna although for years I had convinced Andy and myself that I was the one that had taken his life. It was to protect her but in the end the truth came out and I hurt her more. Time and lots of talking, apologies and the like had finally settled the turmoil between us and our families. Most important was that Andy and her mother were now reunited in full, their relationship unbreakable.

"What are we all doing talking out here and through a doorway? Aren't you going to invite us in Skye? I know I taught you better than that," he teased.

"Well Da, Teresa and Andy are hugging inside, Robin is making a nice armrest."

"Hey!"

"And Oka-san already stepped inside. You're the only one left outside. You know I think I feel a draft coming in the door. Should really close the door now."

"Hey! You wouldn't leave your father outside at the mercy of Grimm," he said.

"I don't know… my pets could use a new chew toy," I grinned, making him shudder.

"Skye! That's not nice," Andy scowled, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.

"Fine, fine!" I threw up my arms defeated. "But Da's helping cook breakfast!"

My dad complained the whole time as the rest of us laughed. We had him start cooking, settling everyone else in. Andy and I got the sense that our moms were eyeing us suspiciously so we took turns using the shower and restroom to clean up. I took the time while dressing in my room to hide all the toys and make our bed. The morning was nice, jubilant and loud with all the additional company. We didn't mind it one bit. I ended up helping my dad finish cooking while we exchanged stories with our parents. Teresa in the time since the facility had taken over the business that Andy's father had started. Although fragile in appearance she was an apparent powerhouse in business, quickly establishing her control and leading the company to a steady income. She admitted though that despite her prowess she preferred to stay at home, really wanting to spend more time with Andy.

My family had been equally as busy. Dad's business had been doing well although he had to study on the more recent developments with dust. The newer machines were more complicated than what he was used to. Mom occasionally helped but either stayed home and tended to the house or volunteered at the school. She loved the peaceful life but admitted she needed to keep herself busy. Robin I listened to the most since I could tell she was growing up and growing up fast. She had begun helping out at Dad's shop and had amassed an impressive knowledge of dust. School was going well for her and she expressed some interest in other boys. In her though I saw a younger version of myself, of what I could've been if I hadn't gone to the facility.

"You little twerp!" I said, tucking her under my arm and scratching her head vigoriously.

"Onee-chan! Stop it! I'm not a kid anymore!" she wailed trying to tickle me.

"Ah that's the Red I know. Meh you'll always be a kid to me," I said.

A soft muffled bark came from outside accompanied by a caw.

"Haha, I think the pets want to say hi," I laughed. "No feathers for you though. Spira is way too big."

We all went outside to the backyard to an entertaining sight. Spira had landed on top of Basher who was flat against the ground flailing. Apparently when they came back from one of their outings in the wild they noticed our families here. Bash in all his stupidity wanted to say hi in person, charging at the house until Spira stopped him. She happily hopped off him as we crowded around the idiot. My father stayed on the porch, content to watch from a distance. He harbored a deep rooted disdain for Grimm even though we had shown him that my pets had no ill intent. I think that he never could forgive any Grimm for the incident in my youth.

"Anybody want a ride?" I joked, patting down Spira's neck.

"I do! I do!" said Robin, jumping up and down.

"Why not," Teresa's voice surprised me. We all stared at her in disbelief. "What? I'm older yes but that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun."

With a nervous smile, Andy and I helped her onto Basher's back. Andy hopped on behind her while I held his head to keep him still.

"Are you two sure about this?"

"Don't worry my bird, I'll make sure my mother is fine plus there's Basher to look after us," Andy reassured me.

I pulled Bash's head down to made sure he listen. "Look here Basher. You're bigger now and you have Andy and her mom on your back. Don't you dare do anything stupid, okay?"

He whined as if my lack of trust was an insult but softly nuzzled by face before trotting off, slowly speeding into a run. Robin was already seated on Spira when I went back to them, my mother talking to her worriedly. Spira sung a few notes and brushed her brow against my mother's hip but that didn't reassure her.

"You hold on tight and don't let go. And Spira nothing too crazy okay? If you see any Grimm you come straight back. Gods I wish there was more for you to hold onto to," my mother worried.

I put a hand on her shoulder, distracting her enough so that Spira could rise to her full height.

"Don't worry Oka-san, I trust Spira with my life. Anyways, a robin belongs in the sky!" with that Spira batted her wings, a wave of air beating into our faces. A few more flaps and she was airborne, Robin's joyous wails soon lost in the wind and distance.

My mother wrapped her arm over my shoulder and she suddenly looked weak, her age showing through her aura.

"I know you trust her Blue Skye but it's just… she's growing up so fast," she said suddenly bursting into tears. "One moment she our small little Robin and now she wants to be grown up and wants to leave."

"Oh Gods Oka-san," I said, wrapping my arms around her. I didn't realize that Robin's change would hit my mother this hard. "We all have to grow up some time," I said weakly.

"Yes I know that but she just wants to grow up so fast. I try to tell her that there is no rush but it's no use. She's only a teenager with all her life ahead of her."

"Yeah," I mumbled scratching my head, "I guess that's kind of my fault, accident and all. But hey, I didn't turn out so bad! Red should be just fine plus she'll always have you and Da to look after her. Even if she grows up she'll always have you two and home to return to. When she needs it you'll be there and when she realizes how important it is she'll come back. She'll have plenty of time to spend with you unlike… me."

I paused, feeling the urge to cry along with my mother. Life had dealt me a hard hand and I wasn't as lucky as my little sister. My youth had been mostly separated from my family and home, when we finally got to meet again we were strangers. It wasn't that I had wanted that aspect of getting my legs back but it was necessary and I accepted it. Robin had none of those restrictions and yet she still wanted to be independent. Suddenly I understood why my mother was so distraught.

"I'll talk to her Oka-san," I said softly.

"Thank you Skye. I'd really appreciate it."

We stood in the backyard watching Spira dance amongst the clouds until she disappeared from view. The mid-morning was cool and the sun was gentle on our skin. My dad had sat on the back porch, whistling as he pulled out a pocket notebook to sketch in. No doubt he was sketching the landscape with me and my mother in it. After a while in silence it was me who finally spoke.

"Oka-san, I have a problem."

"Oh, what is it?"

"I need some… advice."

"Of course, and don't you worry because I too was once a young woma-."

I pulled out the ring from underneath my shirt and she fell utterly silent.

"Oh."

* * *

"Oh?!" I exclaimed. "Oka-san I show you the thing that will change my life forever and that I'm deathly afraid of doing and have put off for years and all you can say is 'oh'?!"

"No, no, no you surprised me is all!" her eyes suddenly filling with glee. "Have you asked her yet?" she asked anxiously but noticing my silence her sharp mind knew my answer. "Oh, I see."

"Oh again?!"

"I'm sorry Blue Sky," she chuckled.

"This isn't a laughing matter Oka-san!" I wailed.

"Hehe, no but it is a wonderful thing still. So why haven't you asked her yet?" she asked, gently pulling the necklace over my head to examine the ring on it.

My head sunk to the ground and I stared at the blades of grass crowding my feet.

"I can't… muster up the courage," I whispered.

"Cold feet are nothing to worry about. Perhaps… are you troubled by thinking of a memorable way to ask Andy?"

"Maybe… I don't know. I mean I want to ask her but I can't."

"Hmmm, I don't think that you can't Skye. I think it's that you're afraid."

"Afraid?" I asked astonished myself.

"Yes," she hummed. "You are the most courageous person I know."

"Wh-what?"

"It's true," she knocked her hip into mine. "Ouch, I forgot you had your leg braces on. But that is what I mean, when your father and I were afraid to send you to the Atlas scientists you didn't hesitate to agree. You didn't fear what we had to say or what it took to walk again, you simply went. Then you went through all the… experiments, alone."

"I wasn't alone, I had Andy," I told her.

"Yes but I mean you didn't have your family. You were completely on your own at that age. I have never once heard you wish that you had us there with you to support you. You developed the strength to stand on your own."

I kept my tongue, the realization shocking me. It was true that although I missed my family during my years at the facility I never told them about it. Hell I didn't even try to send letters or contact them.

"So that's how I know that you can ask Andy except that some worry or fear is holding you back. I can tell you've had this ring for a long time. It has the trace of being carried and worn for years," damn she was sharp.

"I don't… I don't know what I fear Oka-san. I mean, you're right I want to ask Andy, I really, really do! And you're right too that I've had this ring for ages. I bought it when I first applied to Beacon. I used practically every Lien I had to afford it. Hell I made a promise to the shopkeeper that I would never give up on my love for Andy. I bought it even though I felt that I would never see Andy again," I paused, suddenly feeling the tears well up under my eyes. "I… I should've asked her the moment I saw her again. I should've asked her when we were on the same team at school. I should've asked her when we got back from our first fight. I should've asked her when we graduated. I should've asked her when we bought our house! I should've… I should've… I should've…"

I fell captive to my tears, hugging onto my mother as I sobbed. She took me into her cove, stroking my hair and back. I heard my father come down and my mother relay my agony to him. He joined me in the hug and kissed the top of my head.

"Da," I said after I stopped crying, "How'd you ask Oka-san?"

"Oh," was all he said.

"Oh?!" my mom and I both exclaimed.

"Blue Sky you're too young to know, I'll tell you when you're older," my dad muttered, his cheeks red.

"I'm fucking 24 years old!"

"Don't tell me you forgot dear!"

"I didn't forget! How could I?!"

"Oh I can think of a few reasons," my mother quirked.

"Kimiko come on!"

"Wait, what are you two going on about?!"

"Skye don't believe a word your mother says."

"Why shouldn't I?!"

"Believe me Blue Sky. Your father is just embarrassed."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Gah do I even want to know anymore?!" I sighed, clutching my head.

"Oh yes you do," my mother smiled almost evilly. "Dear, please tell her," her silent giggle was scary.

"Oka-san you're scaring me," sort of like a certain demon named C-ydna, "Da what is she talking about?"  
My dad combed his hand through his hair so violently I thought he'd tear it off. His eyes would dart from each of us and then to the sky and then right back at us. His hand twitched and his foot kept tapping the ground. He looked like he was on edge.

"Da?"

"Your mother said no."

"Wh-WHAT?!"

My mother covered her mouth with a hand and giggled, her eyes gleaming with old youth.

"Look Skye, I asked your mother and she said no to me… the first time," my dad muttered.

"Oh no that wasn't all. See your father was actually quite popular with girls. The only problem being that he was an utter klutz trying to talk to them, stumbling and stuttering through his words," my mother told me.

"Kimiko!"

"Whenever he had a girl that he _really_ crushed on he would blurt out 'Will you marry me?!'" she laughed hysterically.

"Yes!" my dad sighed explosively. "So Skye I wasn't the best at flirting. Call it a vomit of word. I couldn't help myself!"

My mother went over and threaded her arm through my dad's. "And so he comes up to me and screams that at the top of his lungs. Oh was I surprised and embarrassed, all my friends were pointing and staring. I politely declined him and went on with my day."

Dad took her arm as she leaned into him, his eyes lovingly watching her. "Yes, yes but I couldn't stop myself. Something about your mother Skye was different and I wanted to talk to her and get to know her. After a while of asking around."

"He stalked me."

"YOU STALKED OKA-SAN?! OKA-SAN YOU LET HIM?!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I didn't stalk your mother! I just asked around, my friends, her friends, trying to find out what she liked so I could actually… have a civilized… you know, conversation and ask her out on a date," my father quickly corrected.

"Oh my Gods and I thought I was bad," I said.

"Haha, you don't know the half of it Blue Skye," my mother cooed. "If you could see us in our youth you'd be red in the face. Anyways I let him take me out on a date after letting him stumble about it for a while. Your father was cute, coming back every time I denied him."

"So," I began, looking back and forth between them, "how'd you finally ask Da?"

"Uh… I didn't stop asking."

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Just that, I asked and asked."

Finally I understood what he meant. "You're kidding me…"

"Nope," my mother chimed in, "he never stopped. So one day when he didn't and he had forgotten all about it I simply told him 'Yes'. It took him a week to finally get what I meant."

"Oh," I mumbled, taking my turn.

My mother brought me into a hug with my dad and stroked my head.

"Listen Blue Skye. You'll know when the time is right, you'll feel it in your heart. There is truly no rush but don't let your fears get the best of you. Ask, and ask again like your father," she said.

An echoing screech brought all our eyes to the sky, seeing Spira as a white speck in the distance. If she was coming back already then Basher and the rest of them were sure to follow.

"I just… hope I don't mess this up. We finally have a home, finally have some sort of weird peace in our lives, and we finally have each other. I don't want to ruin it all," I said, staring at the graceful Spira flapping her wings.

My Dad gave me a kiss on the head before retreated to a safe distance on the porch. Mom took the necklace and ring over my head and slide it around my neck, tucking it inside my shirt. She grasped me tightly around a hug, the ring pressing against my chest.

"You won't Skye. The only way you can ruin anything is by not asking because then you'll never forget your regret," she pulled away to shield her face as Spira beat her wings furiously to slow her descent.

Spira dropped to the ground and landed with elegance, Robin holding tight to her neck. When Robin wouldn't let go she turned her head and took the back of Robin's shirt in her beak, lowering her to the ground like a chick.

"Heh, heh," Robin chuckled, absolutely a whirlwind of a mess.

"Let me guess, you goaded her into doing something crazy," I whispered to her as she put a hand on Spira's neck for support.

Spira gave Robin a push with her beak to get her upright, nuzzling her face.

"Don't tell mom!" she shrilled back equally as quiet. "Yes and I may have uh, fell off."

My eyes widened and shot to Spira angrily but she had stood to her full height and faced the woods, looking or pretending to look for Basher. She looked over her shoulder once as if to say, _what she's back alive isn't she?_

I put a hand on Robin's shoulder with more force than I wanted. "I will pluck all the feathers off of both of you," I growled.

A trumpet growl announced Basher's arrival who skidded into the yard with all the elegance of a blind boar. His tongue hanging from his mouth with leaves and branches stuck in his fur he looked like a mess. I ran over to see Andy helping a wild and bewildered Teresa down from his back.

"Well," Teresa gasped out of breath, "that was exhilarating."

"Basher, Spira we are going to have a long talk about the definition crazy!" I scolded both of them, it taking more effect on Bash then Spira.

"What happened?" Andy asked after giving me a kiss.

I plucked the leaves out of her hair while smoothing out the knots, "I'll tell you later but we're definitely nurturing the Grimm."

Bash cowered under a stoic Spira while everyone else laughed.

As we were about to head in Andy held us back. "Now's a perfect time for a photo!"

I agreed and she brought out the camera and tripod while I attempted to get our band in the right place. Basher was hopeless so I had him lay off to the side. Robin immediately climbed onto Spira's neck who likewise had to lay down because she was so tall. Mom and Dad got on either side of Spira while Teresa leaned against Bash. As Andy hit the button and started the timer on the camera she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the shot. The camera was beeping rapidly by the time we were in place and I had only enough time to kick Bash in the nose, pluck a feather from Spira, and simultaneously bite Andy's ear.

The ensuing ruckus was a murderous bunch of beasts, Andy included, trying to chase and kill me. Andy and I had to admit though, after tacking the picture to the wall, it was one hell of a photo.

* * *

After dinner was over and everything was put away I offered everyone some beers. Dad took one and surprisingly so did my Mom, Andy and Teresa opted for wine though. My dear fox didn't utter a word when I brought it all out but did give me a deathly glare. Somehow we got talking about our job but I could tell that Robin wanted to speak alone so I left the stories to Andy. Going out to the back porch I sat on one of the steps as Robin sat beside me.

"Here," I said, handing Robin a beer.

"Is that beer?"

"Yeah, what, you're growing up. I might as well be the one to introduce you to this deathly liquid rather than some boyfriend you'll have one day," I said, popping the cap for her.

She hesitantly took a sniff before pressing it to her lips and drinking. The moment she swallowed she cringed and coughed violently.

"Hahaha, ah the first time is always funny," I laughed, holding onto the bottle so she didn't splash it around.

"This is horrible Onee-chan!" she wailed, taking the bottle back once she recovered.

"It's an acquired taste, just don't become like me. Being an alcoholic is expensive," I scratched her head.

She took back the bottle and took another drink, holding back her coughs but still cringing.

"You know Oka-san is worried about that," I said, resting my head in my hand.

"Me drinking?"

"No, you becoming like me."

"Oh," she scowled, "Oka-san worries too much."

"That she does but with good reason, how old are you now?" I teased.

"Nee-chan you know how old I am. Don't tease like that," she said in a very rough girl kind of fashion.

I admired my little sister, seeing her youth and innocence yet untarnished by struggle or hardship. Was that how I looked when I was her age I wondered? Barely into adolescence, body turning into a lady, and the urge to grow up to fast.

"Haha, yeah I know, I know but that's the thing, don't try to be too much like me," I smiled weakly.

"But you're so cool though. You're a Huntress! You're so grown up. You have a house and all these talents and you're famous. And you're like… on your own and everything and doing fine!" she bounced up and down. Gods it sounded so familiar, knowing what you want without realizing what it mean and trying to put it all haphazardly into words.

"Do you know how I got to be this way?" I asked very seriously now, putting Robin a little off.

"Well…" she pondered, "you went away to be able to walk again and everything. You were already doing all this at my age."

Her voice was full of admiration it hurt and getting her to understand was probably going to hurt even more. I didn't want to ruin her aspirations and I hated being the one to have to take away some of her youthful innocence but it was necessary. Taking a long chug of beer I continued.

"You know what it took me to be like this?" Robin shook her head. "Okay well, you know the pain of me taking on and off my leg braces? That was only a bit of what I went through. In Atlas, at the facility they… Andy and I…" I sighed reliving some of the unpleasant memories, "I didn't want to be like this."

"What do you mean? How could you not want to be a Huntress and cool?"

I gave her head a scratch, "I didn't want to be a Huntress, not at first. That was something that came later. But at the facility, to be able to walk again, the scientist there put us through a lot of tests. These tests were a hundred times worse and more painful than what I feel putting on my legs. They tortured me and Andy." That made Robin gasp as I skimmed over the kinds of things we did. "I was younger than you were. I didn't want to be all grown up, what I'm trying to say is that I was forced to. Actually I wish I could be like you. I wish I could've enjoyed my years as a kid, been happy. Sometimes I even wish that I didn't have the ability to walk."

Robin actually took a long drink before speaking. Oh I hope that I didn't turn her into an alcoholic like me.

"But, if you couldn't walk then you couldn't have all this."

"Haha, that's true but if I had stayed home I could've been with you, with Oka-san, with Da all those years," I said, making her begin to realize what I was trying to say. "If I hadn't tried to walk again, we could've been a family. Sure I'd be stuck in my wretched wheelchair but I would've been home. There wouldn't have been years of torture, years of being what I realize now was pretty much prison, and then my time living on the streets as I tried to get my life back together.

"What I'm trying to say Red is that I _had_ to grow up, not necessarily that I wanted to. I didn't become all this, a Huntress and all, because I exactly wanted to as a kid. It was more like it is what I had to do to survive."

I downed the rest of my beer, sending a nice tingle through my body. Scowling I took out my flask and added the nice burn of liquor to the buzz. Handing it took Robin she took a sip and began hacking once again.

"Robin, look just don't try to grow up so fast. I'm different. I was a bum, an alcoholic, a jerk, and a fucked up kid," I said making her chuckle. "You laugh but it's true. If it wasn't for Andy I'd probably be dead. She saved me. So don't go on like me and try to be an adult right out the gate. You've got it real nice with Oka-san and Da back home and everything. Enjoy it. Before you know it you'll be like me, regretting all the things you could've done and didn't do." I fiddled with the ring under my shirt guiltily.

"Okay, I think I understand," she said, taking another swig out of my flask.

"Alright," I took it back, noticing the slight sway that Robin had developed, "I think that's enough for you."

"Is the world swaying Nee-chan, it won't stop moving," she slurred.

I laughed hysterically, "Lightweight! No you've just drank too much."

"Hey, Nee-chan I want to get a tattoo."

"ALCOHO-, a tattoo?!" Andy's voice shouted from behind us.

I jumped to my feet out of shock, forgetting the beers and grabbing Andy by the ears and covering her mouth.

"Shutupshutupshutup!" I shrilled into her fox ear. I was deathly afraid of her wrath for me giving Robin alcohol but even more fearful about what my little sister just admitted.

Andy was still shouting into my hand and squirming about as I tried to get her under control. Robin looked rather shocked, not knowing what to make of the two of us fighting.

"Red bite her ear!" I told her.

"Mmhmwwhmm!" grunted Andy.

"What?!"

"Just do it! Andy if you don't quiet down we're going to bite your ears," I told her.

"Fmwfff! Mmnmmmhmpf!" she continued.

Robin dutifully slipped the tip of Andy's fox ear into her mouth and bit, causing another shriek from Andy.

"Did it work?" she asked nervously.

"Hahaha no that was just to piss her off," I giggled.

"Fmmck myuuu!" Andy cursed.

"Alright seriously Andy, I will tie your tail into a knot if you don't quiet down," I threatened, finally getting her to stop wailing.

As I released her from my grip she socked me in the gut.

"That's for drinking and giving alcohol to your sister," she berated me as I clutched my belly. "And Robin!"

"Hai?!" she slipped into her Japanese utterly frightened.

"No. Biting. My. Ears," she said causing my sister to nod vigorously.

I laid on the ground cackling as I regained my breath, Andy took a seat next to me nursing her ear and whacking my face with her tail.

"So what's all this nonsense about a tattoo?" Andy asked, making Robin shrink back.

"Andy!" I chided as I sat up and gave her ears a scratch. "Red was just about to tell me before you rudely butt in. Go on Robin."

"Well, I mean I want to get a tattoo."

"After all I said about not being like me?" I hummed a little set off.

"Yeah, your mom talked to me too. No rush to grow up and tattoos really hurt," added Andy as she slid an arm around my waist.

"I know, I know but well you know I… you both have tattoos!" she made a good point.

"Ah yeah," I scratched my own lark which Andy stopped out of habit by grabbing my hand. "Look we were like I said, dumb and young with different circumstances."

"Your sister Skye was the dumb one," Andy chuckled. "What would you even get, do you know?"

"That's the thing!" Robin said, regaining her flare. "I want my tattoo to be a feather for… you know… for Onee-chan…"

I let go of Andy and stared in awe at my little sister. Of all the things she could want to get a tattoo of in her youth she wanted it to be about me, her stupid sister who was barely there for her. Gods she was cute, dumb and so loving that it made my heart stop.

"Well you see I mean you both have tattoos and I want one and I want one about you because you're my sister and I really, really love you and I thought it would be cool to you know have matching tattoos maybe and I thought it would be a cool first idea so I picked a feather because it kinda really made sense and-," she ranted without taking a breath.

"Let's do it," I interrupted her.

"Skye!" interjected Andy.

"She has a point fox. I mean what better idea than that, she's thought it through plus it's better she does it with me rather than doing it drunk or with someone who doesn't know anything about it. Anyways I've been itching for another tattoo," I said.

Andy looked sternly at my aloof yet content face and then at Robin. Her adorable sister puppy face made me crack into silent laughter. I didn't know if she was forcing it or it was natural but it was great and having a massive effect on Andy.

"Come on," I goaded her, stroking her tail.

What was a low purr from Andy became a growl as she snatched her tail away from me. I knew she loved it as much as getting her ears scratched.

"Where would you even get your tattoo?" Andy deflected even though I knew she had given in.

Robin's face glowed, "Well, well, well! I was thinking right here!"

She pointed to her ribs.

I facepalmed, Andy cringed.

"Wh-what?" Robin wondered.

"That's the worst spot for your first tattoo Red."

"What your bird-brained (Hey!) sister is trying to say that a tattoo on the ribs would be extremely painful for your first one," Andy explained.

Robin turned away for a moment but when she looked back it was her cute sister attack once again. The puppy face returned only now with the onset of tears. She even added a slight quiver to her lip. Damn she was good.

"O-okay Robin," Andy submitted, ruffling her red head, "ribs it is."

"Yay!" I exclaimed, hugging both of them together and chewing on Andy's ear. "We're gonna get tatted up!"

"Yes, yes," Andy cooed, "but Robin do you have a picture or drawing of what you want?"

"No," my sister shook her head between our chests, "but I have an idea in my head of what it looks like."

"Excellent, I'll get to drawing," my Dad said from the doorway behind us.

"OTO-SAN?!" "DA?!" "MR. MIRIAGE?!" we all shouted.

"Shhhh!" he hushed us, taking a seat next to us. "Your mother is nice and full on wine and chatting with Teresa. Wouldn't want her to hear anything now would we?"

And standing in front of me is where I get my mischievous side from. My Dad was always sneaking away or bending the rules. He only had to hide it better when he married my Mom. That was easily obvious as he pulled out his old pipe, lighting it and taking a few puffs. Mom hated the smell of that thing.

"Oto-san… you're okay with me getting a tattoo?" Robin asked like a mouse in front of a cat.

"Not exactly but I'm definitely 'okay' with you going to your sister and doing it right," he said as the tobacco in his pipe burned a deep red.

Robin leapt up and embraced my Dad with all her might, nearly sending him onto his back.

"Haha woah there little Robin woah. As long as you don't tell you mother got it?"

Robin nodded.

At that he pulled out his large sketchpad and began getting details from Robin. He took some measurements of her ribs and side, asked her extensively about the feather and how she wanted it to look, the color, angle, and everything he could think of. After he was satisfied he took up a pencil and started scratching away at the page.

"Thanks Da," I said, giving him a hug.

"Don't worry about it Skye," he said, looking over his shoulder to see that Robin and Andy were gone before he continued. "I overheard a bit about your time at the facility."

That made me pull away numbly. I took up my flask and stared out at the fading sun. It outlined the toothy canopy of trees, giving the landscape a sort of horror aura.

"What did you hear?" I asked tonelessly.

"Enough." The only sounds in the waning light were the scratching of his pencil on his sketchpad, the occasional crackle of burning tobacco when he took a drag, and Dad's quietly deep voice piercing the night.

"I didn't know they tortured you," he erased a mark he made.

"I don't like to talk about it," I sipped my liquor, fighting to ignore the memories calling for my attention.

"I know. It's not something that should be said in normal conversation but… you shouldn't hide it."

"I don't. I have Andy, it's fine."

"Okay," he paused to look at his work, "it's just that if you ever need to talk about it."

"I don't need to talk about it!" I shot at him. "I don't want to talk about it. It's gone, done, finished. It's something that happened years ago that doesn't fucking matter anymore. I was a kid, I was dumb, stupid, and ignorant. I didn't know what they were doing to me. I didn't know it wasn't normal. All I fucking knew was that I had to survive. I don't want to fucking talk about it because I don't want to think about it. It hurt. It was painful. It broke me. And it's fucking over."

It took me a moment for the rage to pass before I realized that there was a new sound. It sounded like raindrops, large raindrops hitting the ground. When I looked though it wasn't rain but my Dad's tears, splashing across his sketchpad. He didn't sob or make a sound but let the tears roll off his cheeks.

"I understand," he guarded his tone rigidly, "but please understand Skye, I'm sorry."

His apology put me off more than anything.

"I'm sorry that I didn't know. I'm sorry that I didn't know and couldn't help you. If I did, your mother and I we would've come and got you no matter what it took," he forced out through the jitters in his voice.

I placed a hand on his shoulder, bowing my head to my own tears.

"It's okay Da. It's not your fault. You didn't know."

I tried to drink from my flask but it was already empty. My body tensed and I knew what was coming. I needed to get away from everyone and to Andy quick before what was coming destroyed everything that had happened tonight.

"Da," I muttered through gritted teeth, "don't… blame yourself."

I stumbled to my feet and through the backdoor. Andy was finishing getting everyone places to sleep. She glanced up from rolling out a futon for Robin and locked eyes with me. I stiffly nodded if my pale face and clenched fists weren't indicators enough. Blood was dripping from my palms where the nails cut into the skin. Andy's face went from cheerful neglect to silent terror. She made excuses to everyone and rushed over to my side. I was ready to collapse I was so exhausted from fighting my own mind.

"Is Nee-chan okay?" Robin asked from her futon.

"Yes, yes," Andy hissed, "she's just a little drunk. Go to bed now."

She looped my arm around her shoulders and helped me into our bedroom. Laying me on the bed she rushed to lock the door before returning with one of our gags.

"Y-y-you mi-mi-minx," I stammered through my shivers, "g-g-gonna get k-k-kinky wi-with me all in a wr-wreck."

I opened my mouth as she gently slipped the gag between my teeth. I thanked her with my eyes, knowing that it would be the only thing to keep me quiet.

"It's okay, it's okay," she cooed, crawling onto the bed next to me. "Do we need the restraints?" she asked worriedly but I shook my head.

Sometimes I got violent when the occasional flashbacks returned, in the most extreme times Andy had to use our restraints to keep me from hurting myself or her. It was horrible for both of us but kept us safe.

"What is it this time? C-ydna?"

I shook my head.

"My dad?"

Again I shook my head. I was losing control and curled as tight as I could, grabbing fistfuls of sheet and biting hard into the gag. Maybe the restraints might've been a good idea.

"Is it the facility?"

I nodded.

"The tests?"

I nodded again.

"Okay, it's going to be okay Skye."

I lost control and screamed into the gag, forcing Andy to cover my mouth to stop the noise. My vision faded to that of the experiment rooms, the table, the tools, the pain. I thrashed about, trying to escape the scientist's hands. The hands tightened around my wrists and I fought for freedom to no avail. Arms came around me, scientist trying to haul me back, to strap me down so I couldn't resist.

"You're not there!" Andy said into my ear. "Listen! You're not there! My bird you're here safe in my arms."

Her voice pierced through my nightmare and I focused on it to lead me away from all the pain. She was laying in front of me, still holding me tight. My vision flashed between her and the scientist, both fighting for me. I flailed and thrashed in her arms, sickening thumps told me when I hit.

"Skye I love you! I love you!" Andy cried as I felt tears splash onto me. She pulled my head to her chest and kept holding on tight. "You're not alone. You're not there. You're safe," she repeated and repeated.

Andy's voice kept me anchored to the present enough so that I could have some control. I could stop myself from the worse of screams and thrashes but still suffered the fear, pain, and agony. She combed my hair which brought me back longer than anything.

"Remember," she cried, touching my paw tattoo and lark, "remember."

Suddenly I was in my memory of us getting our tattoos, calming me.

"Skye, I have to go. I need to check on our families. I'll be right back."

I wailed my disapproval into the gag, my throat too raw to make any sort of sound. The visions regained their strength and my frail body numbly tried to fight.

"You're safe, remember it's over and you're safe," I felt her tears fall onto my face as she stood over me.

She took out the gag and I muttered, "No… Andy… Don't… Go…"

"I'm sorry," she nearly shrieked, giving me a kiss before rushing out the door.

And in the darkness I relived my torture over and over and over.


	3. Chapter 3

The night was a torment of memories. It felt like I relieved each session of testing, the worst of them replaying over and over again. When I finally awoke I was sitting on the floor, the sheet either in shambles or in piled messes around me. I tried to get up but felt the familiar bite of ropes. My wrists were tied together over my head and secured to the bed post while my ankles were knotted together beneath me. Equally tied around me was Andy, her arms draped over me and her eyes fluttering half open or closed.

"Andy," my voice croaked, nudging her with my knee.

Her blood red eyes shot open and she held my face in both her hands.

"Skye, are you okay? Is it over?" she said, wiping the dried stain of tears from her cheeks.

Solemnly I nodded and nuzzled her hand. It was all that I could do.

"Were the ropes really necessary?" I teased with a playful tug on them, knowing her knots were impeccable.

She tried to turn away but I could see the bruises on her arms and face from my wild attempts to fight back against my nightmares.

"Yes, I'm sorry. After I came back you only got worse. I had to take the chance even with our families here," she said softly.

"Oh my little minx, I'm sorry," I sighed.

"Fox and no, it's not your fault. It was your flashbacks not you doing all that. Here let me untie you," she muttered, undoing my binds.

"I think you just wanted a little revenge on a helpless bird," I teased again, rubbing the raw skin around where the ropes had bit into me. Hugging her I pulled her in close to me, kissing the top of her head. "Here let me heal you."

"No don't. Save your energy," she got up and went to one of our packs laying across the room.

Andy pulled out a marble sized transparent ball that glowed white with what looked like flames inside. I had learned a trick after our time at Beacon and lighting one of her birthday cake candles with my semblance. Healing still took a huge toll on me even with all the training and improvements I had made but we discovered that I could store some of my power as white flames inside hollow marbles like these. It tired me out filling them but they came in handy whenever we needed a fast remedy. Breaking them on a wound or swallowing them would release the energy I had store within and heal us as if I had done it myself. The advantage to this was that it didn't use any of my strength right then. Andy broke one of the marbles against my chest and did the same for herself. The warmth burst from the capsule and flowed over me, my bloodied wrists and ankles, the cuts inside my palms disappeared and I was as good as new. Likewise, the bruises all over Andy faded and returned to new untarnished skin.

"Thanks fox," I said, kissing her with my renewed strength.

"Mmmhmm, I love you and will always be here," she reassured me.

"I love you too. How's everyone else?"

"Still asleep, they heard you a few times but I told them you were drunk."

"Good, good," I got to my feet and stretched my sore limbs. It always made me stiff, having to sleep with my leg braces on.

"What happened?" she asked, hugging me from behind and resting her chin on my shoulder, "You haven't had one that severe for a long while."

I sighed, remembering the terse conversation I had with my Dad. It wasn't his fault but it had sparked my attack. With the alcohol and the rest of my problems I simply lost control.

"My Dad overheard about my tests and the tortures when I explained it to Robin," I rested my hands on hers.

"Oh. That's the first he's ever heard about it wasn't it?"

"Yeah. He had to find out sooner or later. The worst… the worst was that it apologized for it. Said he was sorry for not being there for me, for not saving me. I think that's what set me off," I explained, swaying a little on my feet.

"Are you going to be okay my bird?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Come on, let's go make some breakfast," I quickly turned and pulled her tail while grabbing a handful of her bum. "Maybe we can get some time alone and I can get my revenge," I whispered softly, making her sigh with glee.

We left our bedroom and entered our living area. Checking on everyone they were all soundly asleep, our parents in the guest room and Robin curled up in her futon. Andy was making her way to the kitchen when I grabbed her by the hand and lead her into the bathroom.

"Skye!" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

I shut and locked the door silently before pressed her against it. Leaning into her so that every inch of our bodies possible touched I rain my fingers sensually up her side.

"We need to shower," I whispered, kissing her collar.

"Sk-skye," she sighed, quivering against me, "but our families, they might hear us."

My lips were already nibbling on her chest with the growing flame in my own. I interlaced my free hand with hers and raised it above her head, tugging at the collar of her shirt so I could get to more skin. Okay I was horny but I was also ravenous and wanted Andy then and now. Everything else could wait.

"Revenge or," I slid my hand under her shirt and swept it across the plains of her stomach, "gratitude for last night." My hand slipped under her bra and took her breast, Andy's nipple hard against my palm.

"O-ohh," she moaned, falling to her own desires and reaching into my pants with both her hands to caress my ass.

"Shhhh," I quieted her, wanting to relieve her of all her clothes.

I kept her trapped against the wall with my body, pulling her shirt over her head and almost tearing her bra off her. I fiddled with the zipper of her pants and let them fall to the ground, yanking her panties with them as I kissed each of her nipples. Andy struggled to stifle her moans as I squatted down, working my mouth between her legs. Her thighs went weak and shuddered with the waves of her pleasure as I put my tongue to use, my hands never once leaving her skin. Before I could finish her she pushed me to the ground, a hand instantly kneading my chest while the other slipped into my pants and between my legs, freezing me with how she massaged my nether.

"Andy," I heaved struggling to remain quiet as she pulled down my tank top so that both my breasts fell out. "Don't… stop…" I muttered in heat.

"Shut up," she growled, pulling my pants and panties to my ankles as she grinded her hips into me.

Her tongue silenced me as her lips met mine, each of us exploring each other's mouth by touch. I closed my eyes feeling her body against mine, the rapid beat of her heart, the moisture building from sweat, and the jitters as waves of heat rushed over our bodies. My hand groped around, tugging on her hair and caressing her fox ears. I moaned into her mouth, the friction from her building up against the dam within me. She moved down to my chest and kissed every inch of it, swirling her tongue around each of my nipples and biting them to the point where I had to gag my groans on her ear. I pushed her off when I was close, struggling to free myself from the rest of my garments.

"N-no…" I heaved, "not… yet."

"I don't think so," she glared at me hungrily, attacking once again when I was completely naked.

I managed to get to my feet while she was ravaging my nerves with all her might. She back me against the tub, my butt resting against its edge while she got on both knees and proceeded to return the favor between my legs. Gods I felt like I was going to snap but I didn't want to, not yet. I wanted to enjoy this and… I wanted to beat Andy to the punch. He he…

My hands grasped the edge of the tub for support, somehow I managed to turn on the water and it rained from the showerhead on me and her. It made a mess, the water rushing down my head, over my body and then onto Andy. Her mouth was doing unspeakable things between my legs and it was driving me insane, in a good way. I saw her tail and yanked it, breaking her away from her focus as she glared up at me. Swinging her around I bent her over the edge of the tub and got behind her, ramming my hips against her ass and throwing her into the stream of water. I was rewarded with a grunt as I slammed into her again and again, pulling on her hair and massage between her legs at the same time.

"Uh… Mmmpf!" she groaned. "Oh… Oh Skye," she moaned but I had to silence her sweet cries with my hand. Our families were still only a few walls away.

Andy tried to stand but I only forced her into the tub, pressing our naked bodies into the wall and grinding only harder. I penetrated her with my fingers, her body stiffened in agonizing glee as she moaned loud and unintelligible things into my hand pressed against her mouth. I worked on her hard until finally her tail straightened into a rod and her body froze as Andy was overcome by her rush. We both leaned against the wall and heaved with our exhertions.

"I win," I sighed into her ear as I continued to fondle her as she came down from her high.

"Ah… I… Uh… Let… Mmmm… you," she shot back between breaths.

"I told you… I'd get my revenge," I uttered sweetly.

Andy was quick to recover, twirling us around so that my back was pressed against the wall. She said nothing as she pressed her mouth to mine and slipped her fingers into me. I shrieked into her with shock from the jolt and wanted to collapse but she didn't let me. I tried to regain the upper hand but she didn't let me, holding me against the wall and playing a sweet melody with my body. Her hips rocked against me with the vigorous tempo of her fingers within me. Andy's soft lips were constant against my own as she sought to stop any sort of taunts or complaints, not that I had any. She groped at my breasts with unnerving greed, mixing the pain of pinching my nipples with the pleasure between my legs. The way she bucked her body into my only aided with what her hand were doing, keeping me trapped in a cage of bliss and slowing melting me. Our sweat was undiscernible with the water flowing over us. Finally with Andy's rhythm at an insane tempo she broke the dam that held back the heat in me, thrusting so deep and pinching my nipples so hard that I yelled into her. I broke the kiss and bite her neck hard, groaning as I came.

"Ahhhhhhhh," I moaned, falling limp into the tub.

But Andy didn't stop.

She crawled down and kissed my spot that was already tender from my orgasm. Her hand rubbed its most sensitive spot while her other split between groping my body and kneading my thigh.

"Andy… I-I-ah… Ah-Andy… St-st-sto… I already… Ca-came-aahhhhh," but I was too weak to say more.

Weakly I grabbed her ears and tuffs of her hair as she overwhelmed me. I may have won the first round but she was making sure that I wouldn't win the next… or the one after that. She was destroying me. I tugged at her hair and fox ears which only made her growl and work harder on me. My legs writhed uselessly, my metal leg braces clinking against the tub's side. When all else failed I grabbed my own breast in one hand and her head with the other, pressing her harder into me. I wouldn't have come the second time without Andy being so much of a beast but with her hand covering my mouth and my hand over hers I screamed out once more. After that I was a wreck, laying in the tub with nothing left in me.

"A-a-an…" I couldn't even speak, my head lolled on the tub's edge. "I… I… ca-can't… No… n-n-n-n more…"

"Who won?" she climbed on top of me, sitting on my belly. She was out of breath but triumphant and I was too weak to do anything.

I reached up and gave her breast I squeeze, it was all I could manage.

"Good bird," she said, laying on me. She pulled my head against her wet breasts and held me tight.

I was dead, too numb and in shock to move a single muscle, to speak, all I could do was breath and stare off blankly.

"Aw is the little bird too tired. What happened to 'I won'?" she taunted as I heaved out ragged breaths.

There was nothing I could do, my head rolled along the edge of the tub when I tried to lift it. My hand was still lifeless on my chest and the other was by my side.

"Who won?" she asked again evilly, pinching one of my nipples.

A moan escaped me more than me uttering it I was so overwhelmed. "Mmnnnngg… You…" I breathed.

She grinned, kissing me lightly on the lips while she untangled the wet ribbons of my hair. Her hand were gentle as she continued to tease my useless body, although with restrained force. I was at her mercy until I finally got enough of my strength back, twisting one of her nipples until she stopped playing me like a piano. Propping myself up I pulled her onto me, rapidly sliding my fingers between her legs while I grabbed her ear.

"Not the same huh?" I grinned as she bite her lower lip.

I released her and pulled her to me so she laid against me, the water washing over both of us in the tub. Her arms rested on my legs while I played with her tail and ears, occasionally rubbing her more sensitive areas.

"I think I need to buy a shock collar," I said with my chin resting between her fox ears, "my little pet isn't house trained."

"You get one and I promise you I'll destroy all your alcohol and I won't be your dear fox anymore," she threatened.

"Fine, but I will get my revenge when our families are gone," I hummed.

We both helped each other onto our feet and _actually_ got to showering. It was very sexy and sensual, cleaning each other while also teasing our frayed nerves after making love. We'd be kissing while scrubbing each other's back or pushing into one another as we soaped each other's chest. I loved it and so did Andy. Finally we got done and stepped out into the puddle we had made on the floor. Our clothes were a mess on the floor, soaked through and some were stretched or torn. I grabbed a towel and wrapped her in it while she draped one around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss.

"I love you," I said, standing there with her.

"I love you too," Andy replied, staring into my eyes.

The soft creak of the door opening made both our heads shoot to the door. Rubbing her eyes and yawning was Robin, sleepily walking into the bathroom where we stood. She looked up through drowsy eyes and after a second they shot open, realizing that she was staring at two naked people in a loving embrace.

"GomenasaiGomenasaiGomensai!" she apologized nervously in Japanese before, running out and closing the door.

"Fuck!" I said, rushing to dry myself and get dressed. "You're giving her the talk," I glared at Andy.

"No I am not. You're her sister and this was your fault!" she said back, slipping on a shirt.

"My fault?!" I exclaimed, helping her pull her tail out of her pants and fixing her shirt. "How is this my fault?"

"Someone wanted to ahem 'shower'," she chided me, sliding my shirt over my head and untangling my hair.

"Tcch," I scoffed, hurrying out the bathroom to find my little sister. She had ran back into her futon and pulled the covers over her head. "I'll deal with Red."

"I'll get started on some coffee," she smiled and gave my shoulder a squeeze before letting go.

As she walked over to the kitchen I heard the hiss of the coffee maker and the snap of the stove turning on. Andy would be starting breakfast and I should be helping her but I needed to deal with Robin. I peeked into the guest room, making sure that our parents were still sound asleep, before I went to sit next to the squirming futon. It was early morning and the sky outside was blackish blue. As I was about to pull back the covers I remembered the first time me and Andy saw each other naked, the morning after we got drunk. The naked image of Andy stuck in my mind pretty well so I assumed that Robin couldn't see anything but our naked bodies.

"Mornin' Red," I said, resting back on my elbows beside the mound of covers.

"Ididn'tseeanything!" her voice squeaked.

"What do you mean 'anything'?" I grinned, admiring the way Andy used her tail as a third arm as she moved about the kitchen.

"I mean Nee-chan and Andy Onee-san naked in the bathroom holding one anoth-," she quickly cut herself off and the mound of sheets curled tighter.

I chuckled at her nervousness which somewhat alleviated my own. This was not a conversation that should be given by her sister. It was more something for parents I thought. Then again she picked me as her role model and it was better I correct whatever stray thoughts she might concoct before she got the wrong idea.

"If you don't come out I'm going to bite you," I said poking what I thought were Robin's ribs.

She wormed away, taking the futon with her making me laugh even more. Falling on top of her I began to tickle at whatever I could feel and tried to bite her head.

"Owowow! Stop that, it tickles and hurts!"

"Well come on out of there, you're a Robin not a groundhog," I said, peeling back the covers.

What I thought was her red hair was actually her face, flush with embarrassment. She took her time to sit up but tried to keep her gaze from lingering on me too long. I could tell she had the image of me nude imprinted on her eyeballs.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't mean to go into the bathroom, I didn't know you two were in there doing… doing…"

I flicked her forehead and ruffled her feathery hair, "It's alright Red. It was an accident I know. Come on, Andy's making breakfast. You want to help?"

She shook her head.

"Well… you wanna help me feed Bash and Spira?"

She thought for a moment before nodding. We both got up and went out the backdoor, the two idiots just getting up. Basher was rubbing his armor plates against a tree that had been stripped of bark. It was his favorite tree and he loved to clean his armor, making sure they were as shiny and impeccable as they could be. For an idiot he was very proud of his armor. Likewise Spira was stretching out her wings and picking at them with her beak, making sure each feather was in their place. We went over to the dispenser and filled up their oversized bowls of meat, letting them continue on with their morning routine. I went to each of them and greeted them. As they went to collect their meals I brought out brushes for both of them, combing down Spira as Robin helped Basher with his armor. It gave me time to find where to start.

"So Red, you know how when you visited me in Atlas you wanted to know what sleeping together meant?" I broke the silence.

"Nee-chan I'm old enough to know what sleeping together means," she replied defensively.

"Ah, well uhm… Did Oka-san or Da tell you about it already?" I said as Spira nuzzled her large bullet shaped head against my side.

"No… well not really. They gave me a short explanation but didn't say too much. Oto-san was really embarrassed," she chuckled as she scratched a part of Basher that he couldn't reach.

And so I spent the morning telling her about the more intimate facets of a relationship, struggling not to be too specific about the whole sex thing. Andy and I were poor examples, starting young and of course being rather deviant with some of our… practices. It was funny, trying to relate our first times, the confusion, the nervousness as we awkwardly experimented, and then moving into the same room rather by unspoken agreement. Robin was quiet except for the few times she asked for a better explanation or when she blushed at my stories. We sat on the porch watching the Grimm eat, the sun's first rays peeking over the horizon.

"Seeing you uh, naked wasn't the real shock," Robin said suddenly. "I think… it's just that I like boys I think, but I'm also confused. How come you like Andy? I mean, she's a girl."

Ah I thought, that… Man I was such a bad role model.

"You had to ask that eh Robin?"

"I'm sorry. Uh, forget that I asked," she muttered.

"No, no, it's good. I mean I'm sorry that I had to be the one that gave you a different idea than what is normal but it's good that you know," I sighed, thinking of the odd sort of fate that Andy and I had. "Andy and I really just happened. There's no real way to explain it I guess. I left home young and she was the only one around. We were friends at first and grew closer and with everything at the facility we were the only ones there for one another. Without one another I don't know how we would've got by. We relied on one another for support. Our relationship was so strong I guess it turned into love."

"I… don't know if I like girls that way," Robin said curiously. "In school and with all my friends, everyone is into boys. That's what is normal I think. Like some people say that liking a girl as a girl is bad."

"Oh I know," I chuckled thinking of how hard we tried to break the stereotype. If I hadn't had such accepting parents or friends that were more persecuting I don't know if I would've turned out like this. "All I know is that love doesn't matter if you're a boy or a girl or if you like either one. I love Andy so much and that's all that matters to me. Her being a girl was just how it was."

"If I started liking girls, would that be okay?"

"I surely wouldn't stop you," I said placing a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with it. You like or love who you want. Don't let other people decide for you. Oh and experimenting with it is completely okay, don't be afraid to try if it's what you want."

"Okay Nee-chan, thank you," she said, suddenly hugging me.

I kissed her on the head feeling a bit older. I had missed so much of her life I didn't want to lose another second with her. It was bad enough she chose me as a role model but I didn't want to let her down after all the years I had spent away from her. The guilt of not being there hurt and I wasn't going to let it happen again. The fact that I was an adult now was pounded even harder in my head with little Robin here.

"Anytime Red," I replied. "No telling Oka-san and Da though. Da wouldn't say anything in front of everyone but Oka-san's stories would never stop."

Robin burst out laughing, causing Spira and Bash to look up curiously. Human laughter always seemed to peak their interest, like they wondered why these small, warm pieces of moving meat would bear their teeth and shake uncontrollable with odd barks.

"You're right. She already talks about you nonstop back at home. You should see!" she exclaimed.

"Hahaha, I will," I said not thinking.

"So you'll come back home and visit?" her voice was so innocent it piercing through me with ease, making me rigid with some sort of anxious fear.

I hadn't visited home once, not even since I had escaped the facility or become a Huntress. It was a guilty thing that I had never really thought about. Sometimes I would have the inclination to go back, to see what it was like and how it had changed but I never followed through. I felt… like it wasn't home anymore. Home was here, was with wherever Andy was. I never had the true motivation to make the trip back home. Now I realized how heavy the guilt was, not seeing Mom and Dad and most of all Robin my only little sister. They had always visited me, never the other way around. I had abandoned them as bad as leaving for Atlas to regain my legs.

"I will," I said quietly, holding back tears.

"You promise?" Robin bounced excitedly, not seeing the torment of anguish I felt.

"I promise," I said without looking at her, pulling her close into me and resting my cheek on her head.

"Nee-chan I'm not a headrest or armrest!" she wailed but all I did was hold her tighter, chuckling with sorrow as I used all my strength to hold back the tears.

"Hey let's head back in, Andy could probably use some help with breakfast," I said, getting up and walking inside with Robin trailing behind me.

Inside Andy was managing large pans on the stove where various things were cooking. Robin blushed once more, averting Andy as much as possible since she had her naked image in her head. We both laughed it off awkwardly as we got to helping her, setting the table, whisking eggs, and pouring drinks. It was a good morning despite everything that was happening. I kept my spirits up outwardly even if on the inside I was a little shaken. Our parents woke up and each person helped themselves whenever they could or were done with their own morning routine. The soft commotions were pleasant, our house was not so quiet and the company was the best I could ask for. All we were missing were two Grimm running around but their size exempt them from any indoor activities sadly and at the same time thankfully.

Over food we told everyone how we needed to go into town today. We had to report into Beacon, see if they needed us or if they had slotted us for any missions. If not we were going to request some time off to spend with our family. It was perfect too because then we could show them around the school and Vale.

"Skye, Robin," my Dad hissed, calling us away while everyone went to get ready. "Take a look at this."

Despite only having a single night my Dad had outdone himself. On his sketchpad was a beautiful and majestic red feather floating in the wind. The detail though was astonishing, almost every fiber distinguished and its edges clean and defined. I didn't know that Dad was even capable of this level of shading. What was the best part though was the personal touch he added. Instead of only having Robin's idea of the feather he had added icy blue gust of wind that suspended the feather amongst a background of sky and wispy clouds.

I hid my cringe with my awe, the amount of detail and shading were going to hurt especially on the ribs.

"Shhhhh!" he hushed us as we fawned over his work. "Today I'll take your mother and Teresa away to give you time to do what you need to," he winked at us, handing me his sketchpad.

Robin shot forward and held it against her chest like it was made of gold. I patted her on the head as she bounced on her heels.

"Don't you need to get ready?" I said to her.

"Oh. Right," she ran off to where her bags were and began to pick out clothes.

I went into our own room and found Andy already picking outfits.

"I am so not wearing that," I pointed to what Andy had in her hands. "And what, no collar?" I teased, hugging Andy from behind.

She hummed, kissing me on the cheek. "Come on, I thought you'd look nice in that."

We both stared at the hangers in our closet, tracing my hand over everything. My heart tingled seeing our old dresses in the corner. They were the first ones we had ever bought and we kept good care of them. It actually became a problem keeping them, we had outgrown them over the years yet we still kept them. It gave me a nice idea.

"How about this?" I pulled an outfit off the rack.

Andy was motionless for a moment before falling limp against me. I caught her under the arms, gently lowering her to the floor. Her eyes were closed and it looked like she had fainted.

"Andy are you okay?! What's wrong?!" I asked frantically.

"I've died and gone to heaven," she mumbled, head resting against my shoulder.

I scowled, reigning in her tail like a leash as I chomped on one of her fox ears. That instantly woke her up in my arms.

"My bird wants to wear a dress! It's the end of the world!" she wailed.

"Oh shut up!" I said, pulling her ears in different directions.

"Ouch!"

"Fine I'll just wear one of my trashier outfits," I said, getting up and going back over to the closet.

"Nononono!" Andy shouted from the ground, latching onto my legs like a cat. "Wear the dress! Wear the dress!"

I was already pulling out some torn up jeans and a ragged black tank top. "Oh, what do I get in return?"

"Anything!" she begged.

I bent down and gave her a kiss, picking up the dress I had originally picked out at the same time. "Alright my fox."

It took me longer to get the darn thing on due to a certain fox fawning over me. The dress I had picked out was a simple sundress but in a more tasteful black. Brighter colors didn't suit me. With it finally pulled over my head, Andy adjusted the thin straps for the hundredth time. It was intimately familiar to our very first date. The dress felt light on my shoulders but formed to my curves, billowing out into the wavy skirt at my waist. It stopped at my knees, my leg braces visible but discreetly covered by most of the dress. I went to pull on some leggings to hide them but Andy stopped me.

"No, I like your legs," Andy said.

"Come on Andy," I muttered, "anyone could see them like this."

"Nope," she told me despite my complaints, "you're perfect just like this."

I sighed as I sat back and watched Andy finish getting dressed. She took her time and made me wait on her since she had fawned over me and my dress.

"Woah, woah, woah," I stopped her as she pulled out some normal clothes, "Nu-uh. If I'm wearing a dress, so are you! And before you start complaining remember you said anything, hehe. It'll be nice to let your tail free too." I took off one of the hangers she had hung on it and petted it lovingly.

She grinned, grabbing a white button up shirt and a short orange skirt. I toyed with her tail, giving her as much trouble as I could while she got dressed. We stepped out once we were done, going to the kitchen where I grabbed a cup of coffee. Robin was ready, in some outlandish red jeans and a black shirt, a pair of aviator sunglasses on her head. Our parents were finishing up, gathering their last minute items.

"All you need is a motorcycle," I told Robin, thinking of another certain Huntress that was famous at Beacon. That made my sister light up with possibilities. "When you're older," I ruffled her feathers.

We all headed outside, to see Spira deposit a frightened Bash from a short flight from the backyard. He would never get used to flying or heights. Beacon was a long way from our house on the outskirts of town and although we liked to walk it wouldn't be so good for our older parents. A Beacon business car was waiting outside for us, they were given to Hunters and Huntresses for our convenience. Andy and I couldn't afford a car after setting up our living here plus we usually rode the Grimm as transport. Once all inside the driver took us away, Bash and Spira as our escorts.

* * *

It wasn't long before we arrived at Beacon. Students were bustling around the campus and airships were landing or taking off constantly. There were a few other Hunters and Huntresses around but mainly we used other entrances to avoid the students. Not only that but we were treated like superstars amongst them, we didn't want to distract them from their studies.

That… was difficult with two albino Grimm stalking behind our car.

As our parents and Robin gazed at the campus Andy and I were on crowd control. The first years were the worst, some wanting to kill my pets on sight while others wanting to see the Grimm Riders. Between fending off weapons and crazed students I was growing annoyed. Some of the Beacon staff finally arrived and cleared the crowd away, sighing as they saw us again. We said our apologies like always, giving our families a meetup time later while we went in.

The headquarters was busy as always. We checked in at the front desk before going in. Inside behind the lobby was a grand hall filled with monitors. Each one showed something different, news, maps, weapon schematics, stats on Hunters or Huntresses, or various missions that we could take. Our coworkers if you could call them that mobbed about in the hall or by nearby benches. It was like back during our school years except now teams were different and conversations were about world events. I kind of liked to think that I never left school, at Andy's expense, because it made me feel younger. Various hallways lead off to different rooms and areas but from a large side hallway stalked in Basher and Spira. They were met with plenty of attention as mascots warranted although there was enough deathly looks to put me on edge. Despite everything that had happened and all the lives the two idiots had saved, people couldn't get over that they were Grimm. I wish Bash would give all those nonbelievers one big hug… and hopefully crush enough of their ribs.

I went over to the small crowd by our pets and made sure that they were fine, saying hi to our colleagues and friends from school. A few punches were thrown when they commented about my dress. Andy and I had to pull each other away to head over to the administrative section of headquarters. Entering that place always made me reminisce of my time living alone. The desks, people, screens, it all seemed so familiar to that police station I'd always go to for work. Now though instead of police officers behind the desks it was our handlers and the jobs on the monitors weren't all off limits to me. We made our way through the desks to where Excelsior sat.

"Morning," I greeted him.

"Good _afternoon,"_ he corrected. It was only 12:02, showing how anal-retentive he was.

Our handler had a very business look about him in person. His slicked over hair and black rimmed glasses made him feel more like a hardened lawyer than our handler. It didn't help that amongst the frantic work of the people around him he was calm and emotionless, typing into his computer or shuffling papers.

We talked briefly about our last mission and ones before that as was our routine. He questioned us about anything we noticed, the Grimm and their behavior, and overall any detail of significance. Someone smarter than me, as Andy often reminded, apparently took all this information and made the intelligence we used for our missions. I couldn't get my head around it all.

"Look, the main reason we're here is to ask for some time off," I said when he finished.

"Time off?" he asked as if the very thought of a vacation was a sin.

"Yes," Andy said, taking my hand, "we previously informed you of our intent to spend time with our families who are visiting. You'll find the corresponding paperwork I believe."

Excelsior glared at us before typing at his computer rapidly. I think his semblance was dexterous fingers and the ability to type like a machine gun.

"Ah, yes I have the paperwork you submitted. You would like to formally take leave?"

"Yeah, if that's not a problem," I said annoyed.

"Skye!" Andy shrilled next to me. "Yes, we would like to Excelsior."

He took one more irritated glance at me before the rapid fire taps announced the restart of his typing. Papers spat out of the printer beside him and he handed them to us without a single glance, assured that his work was impeccable.

Andy scanned them with a cursory glance and then stood up, "Thank you."

Excelsior gave her a curt nod. As we left though I gave him a peace sign, his otherwise calm face shattered in annoyance.

We were just leaving the administrative section when a commotion in the lobby caught our attention. The crowd around my Grimm were larger than normal and quite more combative for being in headquarters. Basher and Spira looked flustered, guarding something I couldn't see while trying not to harm anyone. People were shouting and trying to calm down my pets while getting to whatever was between them.

"If anyone hurts my pets they have to babysit Basher for a month!" I shouted, half serious and half-jokingly. It caused most of the crowd to laugh although with worry, Bash loved them all no matter who they were and a couple tons of fluffy, loving, idiot came at the risk of many broken ribs.

"What's going on?" I asked one of the Hunters nearby.

"Intruder or something. We think it's a student who snuck in. You know they're always trying to," he said.

"Haha," I chuckled, "in for more autographs eh? Or maybe take a photo this-."

I stopped seeing a flaming red head appear on Spira's neck, who rose her high about the crowd to protect her.

"Is that…" Andy began making me sigh explosively.

"Yes… yes that is," I growled.

"Shouldn't we help her?"  
"We should but…" watching the little idiot hold onto Spira's feathers as she fanned out her wings to clear some room, "I think we should let her feel the weight of her stupidness."

"Kind of reminds me of you," Andy said, leaning into me.

After all the talks last night it did. I saw a younger version of myself running through the Atlas facility with Grimm in tow, constantly giving the guards and staff hell. I was such a horrible role model, even keeping my time there vague idiot number three was following in my footsteps.

"Nee-chan!" she shouted, seeing me standing at the edge of the crowd.

Everyone turned to glance at me as I walked up.

"You know her? Another Grimm Rider?" someone jibbed.

"Sadly we're related, that's my little sister," I sighed. Everyone relaxed though, seeing that she wasn't a threat.

"Nee-chan help! They're all trying to get me!" Robin wailed from high in the air.

"I don't know if I can!" I shouted back. "I think we have to lock you up for coming in here right?" I winked at my colleagues, some playing along.

"Gomensai! I didn't know! I just wanted to see you at work!" she held on tighter as I got Spira to lower her to the ground.

"Well you should've just asked, sheesh!"

As Spira gently shook her off she fell to her ground on her behind, scurrying to hide under her wing. Spira bent her head, staring upside down at the odd little human using her wing as a shield like one of her own chicks.

"You got a cute little sister." "I didn't know there was a mini-Skye." "A third Grimm Rider!" all of my fellow Hunters and Huntresses laughed.

I grinned, pulling Robin out by her ear. She shied away from the tall and imposing people around her who wanted to see. It was rare to have our families in headquarters, they usually didn't cause such a commotion or try to sneak in, and it was even rarer that my Grimm would protect someone besides me or Andy so hardheadedly. As I smoothed out the commotion with everyone and the guards who had showed up, my pets relaxed although keeping a watchful eye on Robin.

"Well everyone," I said loudly, "this is my idiot sister Robin. I think, as it is plainly evident, she wants to be a Huntresses."

The crowd relaxed and lined up to say hello or returned to their business. Robin was flustered as people introduced themselves and asked her various things. She took some time to warm up before soaking it all in.

"So… this is where you work?" she asked.

"Haha yeah, it's where we all meet up and doing various things or get missions," I said rapping her on the head roughly.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You little idiot, what do you think would've happened to you if I wasn't here?" I berated her. I hated to do it but I couldn't have her going on without realizing the magnitude of the trouble she could've gotten in.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered. "I just wanted to see where you worked…"

"Next time Red, ask." Gods my sister, I could praise her for her audacity and still yell at her for following me. "The things Oka-san would've said if I had to bail you out of confinement here," I continued causing her to look down guiltily, "well while you're here might as well show you around."

Robin lit up in glee, wiping her eyes. I gave my pets a thankful scratch as we walked off. Despite being Grimm killers everyone around was pretty friendly despite their quirks. They adored the chance to meet my adorable little sister too. Stories and tips soon spilled out as they flooded her with their words. I pulled her away to give her a quick tour of the headquarters before I got tired of being around the place, taking the three of us back outside.

"So what happened to the parents?" I asked, smoothing out my dress.

"Oto-san took them out shopping. He whispered to me that it was the best way to keep them preoccupied or something like that," my sister giggled.

"Perfect," I eyed a scowling Andy. "Hey come on, maybe I can even convince you to get another tattoo!"

"No, no. Today is for you two idiots," she smiled.

"Hey!" "Andy!" my sister and I whined. We both turned to stare at one another then burst into laughter, Andy shaking her head but joining in.

We took to walking the town, taking a rather leisurely pace. It let Robin soak in all the sights and stop at many of the stores. She ran through the clothing shops and souvenir places as quickly as she ran through the bills in her wallet. Andy and I watched contentedly as my little sister enjoyed herself, pointing her along to some of the secrets of Vale. As we were at one of the cafés that Andy and I loved to frequent Robin grew impatient.

"Nee-san," she said, after she had finished her sandwich.

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"I thought we were gonna go get tattoos," Robin said.

"Haha, of course we are. We got the whole day though so no rush," I took a sip of some coffee.

"But I'm ready. Let's go."

I looked at her then shot a sideways glance at Andy who was giggling to herself.

"What, you two are so similar. Little Robin reminds me so much of you when you were younger," Andy said reminiscing.

I scowled, grabbing her tall under the table making her jump.

"Alright Red, let's go," I said, ignoring Andy's death stare.

We gathered our bags and headed out. The scenery changed as we strayed away from the touristy parts of town. Stores around us became smaller as the business changed from being huge storefronts to locally run places. I stopped in front of a small two story house that was converted into a tattoo parlor. It looked like it was warm but musky, a place that smokers would frequent. Robin grew hesitant and nervous, glancing from side to side. Despite her punkish looks she still got anxious.

After not moving from the sidewalk I took her by the ear and dragged her behind me into the shop. Inside was a shock to any normal person. Instead of smoke or a drug addict like atmosphere it was more like walking into an art gallery. There was drawings and painting everywhere with mirrors placed tactfully throughout. An assortment of music played through the speakers and was pierced by the sweet buzz of tattoo guns. Sweeping my gaze over to where the buzzing was there were open booths with more mirrors. In the middle of each was a padded chair or table with more mirrors on the walls and most important; the artist and his tools.

"Ready for your torture?" I whispered evilly from behind Robin. She jumped as I held her shoulders.

"Be nice Skye," chided Andy.

"Ah isn't it the Grim Riders!" an inked up lady shouted from inside, coming out to meet us.

"Hey Beth," I greeted her, shaking her hand.

Beth was slim with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a skater outfit and a backwards hat. Most notably about her was her piercings and tattoos which she had plenty of both. Her arms were covered in tattoos and from what her shorts showed of her legs her calves had them too. Her lip, eyebrow, nose, and ears were pierced but like with her tattoos they were tasteful and artistic. She was inked up more than me but she was modest about it, not obsessive like other people who were tatted up from head to toe.

"Skye, coming in for some more piercings?" she said, giving me a hug instead.

I hugged her back but grinned nervously at her when we stepped away. "Ha ha… No I think the ones I have are enough," I said.

I had held back on tattoos but had gotten interested in some piercings. Much to Andy's chagrin I got my lip, eyebrow, and ears pierced. She had complained at first but when I got them all she said it made me look more like a dork. After though she came to like them and she ended up getting her ears pierced as well.

"Anyways," I said at a whisper, "she'd want me to get piercings… elsewhere."

"I heard that," Andy crossed her arms with a grin, those orange ears twitching back and forth. That grin scared the living hell out of me because I couldn't tell if she was mad or thinking about the places I could get piercings and how she could use them. Or maybe she was thinking of both. I shivered.

"So what can I do for you?" Beth asked, throwing hand onto her hip.

"Well, we're here for this runt," I said, resting my chin on Robin's head.

"Oh… a third Grim Rider. She's cute. Your daughter?"

Robin and I both froze with embarrassment, our cheeks growing a nice rosy red. I glanced over at Andy and her tail was on end and ears were slightly drooping, she flicked an equally embarrassed gaze at me before shooting it away. Andy and me with kids? That would be a thought for later.

"Ha ha," I chuckled half-heartedly, "N-no this is actually my kid sister."

"Oh I'm sorry!" Beth said, rubbing her head. "Now I feel like a douche."

"It's alright," Robin said. "That's the first time anyone's thought that though."

Beth chuckled, "Alrighty, so whatcha want mini-Skye? Looking for some piercings?"

My little sister looked up nervously at me before saying, "Actually I would like to get a tattoo."

"Oh really?" Beth said. "You're young but since you're Skye's sister I think I'll make an exception. Any idea what ya want?"

Robin took our father's sketch pad from out under her arm and flipped to his rendition of the feather. Beth took the sketchpad with Robin's permission and whistled, studying the drawing.

"This is amazing. Where do you want it?"

"My ribs," Robin said, her voice growing in strength.

"Hmmmm, you know that'll hurt a bit?"

"Yes but I'm ready."

"Alright, here come over to my booth and we'll talk more," she said, going over to sit down at her desk. "So this is obviously very meaningful to you and there's a story behind it. Mind if ya tell me?"

"Well it's actually supposed to be a matching thing," Robin explained, "between me and my Nee-san, oh I mean me and my sister Skye. She always calls me Red cause of my hair and my name an all. So I thought that we'd both get a red feather, you know, as sisters. The feather represents me and the sky and wind in the background are my sister. Our Oto-san, uh our dad drew this up for us."

Beth whistled and had already taken a picture of the drawing, uploading it to her laptop. She had grabbed out some tracing paper and was spinning her pen between her fingers.

"That's sick," she replied. "It's also sick because I finally get to ink up your sister here. Andy you in this deathly endeavor too?"

"Nope," she said holding up her hands, "this is for these two idiots only. It's there mistake to make!"

"Dumb fox!" "Andy Nee-san!" me and my sister both shot back.

"Alright, alright. When were you hoping to get this done?" Beth said, cutting through our teasing.

"My sister leaves in a couple days along with my parents," I explained, scratching my chin as I counted the days. "So really we only have this week maybe. I know it's a lot to ask but we could really do this as soon as we can."

"Hmmmmm," Beth hummed, thinking. "You're in luck, I'm not doing anything tomorrow and neither is one of my coworkers in crime. Hey Saline!"

"Yo?" another lady shouted back from a nearby booth.

"You wanna make some money tomorrow?"

"Hell yeah."

"Alright that settles it," Beth pulled out more papers. "I'll do yours Skye and Saline can do your sister's tatt tomorrow. Noon sound good? This will take pretty much all day to finish."

"That's perfect!" I said.

After that we had to fill out some paperwork, signing various things and getting told some important considerations. Robin being the youngest was given the most attention and also because this would be her first tattoo. We talked a good while about the tattoo and placement on our ribs, being on the right side since my left ribs were taken up by Andy's paw tattoo. Then we went onto the detail, coloring, and the finer points of the tattoo. Lastly we both had to take off our shirts so Beth and Saline could get a stenciled outline of our ribs, marking the size and edges of their skin canvas. Andy was snapping photos of us the whole time.

Throughout the entire thing Robin's nervousness melted away and giddiness flowed out of her pores. She leaned more and more forward in her chair and responded to questions with increasing glee. I could tell from experience that she was an amalgamation of anxiousness, fear, and joy, all the emotion before a very permanent decision a person may or may not regret.

At the end of it all came the pricing which almost threw Robin off her seat.

"Don't worry Red, I got it," I said.

"No, no, no!" she said. "This was my idea and it's my tattoo. I'm going to at least pay for my own. No wait, I'm paying for both of ours."

"Robin, I know that your allowance isn't that much. I can afford this you know you little runt," I told her, not wanting to burn her life's savings so far.

"No Nee-san," she said with finality. "I'm paying for it all."

Gosh my little sister trying to grow up too fast. What the hell am I going to do?

"With that settle," Beth announced, "everything is set. I'll see you all tomorrow! Hope you're ready for the biggest mistake of your lives!"

"Uhhh," Robin muttered as she gulped.

"It's a joke," Beth said but it didn't reassure Robin.

We left that tattoo shop and it was late afternoon, plenty of time left in the day. Basher had curled up in a parking spot alongside the road and fallen asleep. Spira was nowhere to be seen so I assumed that she was high in the sky, enjoying the sun and the air. I tried to convince everyone to leave Bash as a joke, knowing he'd find us with his nose but Andy and Robin both wailed their disapprovals. So I flicked his wet snout to wake him up, getting him to follow us along after he was done stretching and yawning like a dog.

The whole walk back into town to meet our parents I watched Robin. She had a blank stare and was lost in her own world, almost running into everything in her path and often swaying left or right. This was, I'd assume, the first huge milestone and decision in her life. I could tell it was weighing down her wings with anxious regret.

"Relax Red," I said, ruffling her hair, "I know you're thinking 'am I going to regret this? Was this a bad idea?' but really you're going to love it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Once it's all over and you see it finished, you'll be so happy with it all that you'll wonder why you were even worried in the first place," I told her.

Basher chose that time to come over and nudge Robin with his snout. He probably sniffed her sudden shift in emotions and wondered what had made her mood so blue all of a sudden. That sappy idiot, his heart as big as he was and yet his brain couldn't match.

We found our parents outside one of the malls, our mothers smiling as they chatted while my father carried what looked like a tower of bags and boxes. Andy snapped a photo since me and my sister couldn't stop laughing. I helped out with the load and piled a small tower in Robin's arms as we relieved my father of his loads. We ended up giving them to Basher and Spira who had come down from her flight, they gladly taking them back to our home. It worked out too because they couldn't really eat a full meal anywhere except our home. We actually tried once to feed them out on town and almost bankrupted a restaurant… after Basher almost destroyed the building trying to get inside.

"So?" dad whispered to me behind everyone else.

"So?" I repeated back at him.

"Did everything work out?" Gods he made it seem like we were spies in a movie.

"Noon tomorrow, gonna take the whole day. They loved your drawing by the way," I told him.

"Call it one of my hidden talents," he grinned stupidly.

We both laughed, spurning the confused looks of the rest of our family. It was a good day.

* * *

Robin and I stood in front of the mirrors at the tattoo shop, staring at our newly inked sides. She looked utterly spent from having to lie and endure the pain of the needle gun poking and poking her repeatedly. To not ruin the piece she couldn't move or squirm but I could see from the booth beside hers that she would grimace at times. Even with her hardening exterior, a day's worth of constant pain was bitterly agonizing but she took it well. With bags under her eyes she gazed at the mirror.

Our sides were now a colorful portrait of her red feather eternally suspended in the sky and winds. Beth and Saline had intensified the colors, making them more vibrant and bold so they would appear quite majestic on our bodies. The whole thing stretched practically from under the curve of my chest to my hip, same with Robin.

"What do you think Red?" I said softly, coming up behind her as she stood frozen in front of her reflection.

"It's perfect," she hummed. "And it hurt… a lot but so totally worth it Nee-chan."

"Yup, I love it," I said, giving her a kiss on the head.

"Alright you two idiots," Andy said, "get over her with Beth and Saline so I can snap a photo!"

The photo turned out nice. It was plainly obvious by our tired eyes and the bags underneath them how exhausted we all were. Doing an entire piece in one day was no simple feat, for artist or recipient. Still we were happy, very, very happy.

Our artists taped some saran wrap over our raw sides. Beth explained how to care for them and that it'd take about two week for it to fully heal. We'd have to clean them carefully each day and apply lotion as well so it healed properly. Robin moved tenderly after she got her shirt back on, one from the pain and two from the caution she had with her new art piece. She paid both of them afterwards, emptying all her savings and we headed back home after buying some lotion and food from the stores.

"TATTOOS?!" my mother yelled as we prepared dinner that night, somehow finding out. "NO, NO, NO! Don't you try and hide them, I can plainly tell! Come here right this instant Robin Aria Miriage! Skye you too!"

We guiltily walked up to our mother unable to do anything but accept her wrath.

"I can't believe it, I just can't! After everything I've told you Robin and especially you Skye! You're her sister! You're supposed to look after her not goad her along! Do you realize those are permanent?! Are you utterly insane?!" she bellowed at us.

"Kimiko," said Teresa softly from aside, "they're only tattoos."

Ignoring her our mother continued to unleash her wrath. "I cannot fathom why you would want something like this. Do you know what this will look like when you're older? And what about when you go swimming or to the beach?! You can't hide that! What will other people say when they see that too?!"  
"I'd think they'd say it's pretty cool," I said weakly.

"Be quiet Skye. I know that Robin looks up to you but this is simply outrageous! You helped her get a tattoo! Let me see this," she said, tearing up our shirts so she could see the damage. "Just look at…" she paused, recognition striking her eyes. "I know this art style… Oh… Dear, would you please come here," she said deathly calm.

My father had pulled out his pipe and was sneakily trying to make his escape out the backdoor when my mother caught him. We subsequently spent the rest of the night at our mother's mercy, playing punching bag and sponge to her never ending lectures. Even when we all managed to calm her down she still stared at us disapprovingly across the dinner table. It was the price to pay for our defiance but it was worth it. I hated though how mom piled the regret on Robin for something she should be proud and happy about but it was all part of growing up. Da had it worse I assumed for drawing it up for us.

We tried to cheer up but even through all the conversations our mother's pervasive silent wrath of an aura choked us. She was not letting this go. And then Robin dropped another bomb as we finished having dinner.

"Oka-san?" Robin muttered, not daring to make eye contact.

"I'm still mad at you Robin and I'm thinking about your punishment. Skye too, don't think-."

"I want to become a Huntress."

Everyone froze. The air in our home even took a frightened breath as if it could feel the tension. It was like there was a cable beneath each of our chairs so taught that it threatened to snap and cut us in too with the slightest of disturbances. I hadn't moved from reaching for my bottle of beer. Andy's ears and tail were standing straight and rigid. My Da and Teresa had stopped in mid conversation, mouths gaping with words lost on their tongues.

Slowly I reached for Andy's hand under the table, grasping it fervently. I was beyond touched, first the matching tattoos and then Robin wanted to become like me. It was like I was flying with Spira, high and free in the thin air above the world. My sister wanted more than just tattoos. Yet it also chained me to the ground with guilt. This was exactly what my mother didn't want. It was precisely what I had told Robin not to do. She wasn't supposed to follow in my footsteps, she was supposed to stay home and grow up like a normal person. Then I saw, I was looking at this all the wrong way. My mother saw Robin as her daughter and I saw her as my little sister, we both tried to keep her that way. The truth though was that she was growing up and instead of stopping her we should've been guiding her, supporting her. Mom wanted to hold onto her, I was guiding her but in the wrong way. Robin was becoming a young lady.

Robin lifted her head and locked her eyes with my astonished mother and said again more strongly, "I want to become a Huntress."

Mom took another moment and then a tear escaped from her eye. The chair flew back as she ran out the backdoor, trying to wipe her cheeks and muffle her sobs.

I leapt up to go and talk to her but a hand held me in my seat.

"I'll go," said my Da softly, wearing a weary smile on his face. "Let me calm her down before you go."

"I'm… sorry Oto-san," mumbled Robin from the other side of the table. It hurts when someone reacts so brashly when you announce your dream. I could relate.

"It's not your fault Robin-kun. It was only a matter of time. Your Oka-san… she's not mad at you, she's just worried. I'm glad you've decided on what you want to do. Skye, with your experience I'm sure you can help your sister," my Da said with a keen view of things. He gave us both kisses before walking outside, his pipe already held in his lips.

"I'm going to clean up the table and kitchen," Teresa said, standing up.

"No Mom, I'll take care of it," Andy interjected.

"You two Huntresses should talk to Robin, tell her all that you can about Beacon and preparing. I think it'll help her," she smiled and quickly cleared the table.

Andy and I both looked at each other and then at the dejected Robin who stared at the table. I didn't know where to begin.

"You really are sisters," Andy said gently.

"I'm sorry," Robin said.

"Don't be," I flicked her forehead.

"Ouch, hey!"

I rested my elbows on the table and cradle my chin in my hands.

"This is your dream Red, don't let anyone tell you different about your dreams and never stop chasing them. It's a tough one at that but definitely worth it," I told her.

"But Oka-san was so mad! She doesn't want me to be like you, not be a Huntress. She said it herself. How can I do what you do and not make her mad?" she cried.

I got up and hugged her to quell her tears, Andy embracing her as well.

"She's not mad. Oka-san is just… We both misunderstood. We both kept seeing you like a little kid, not the young lady that you're becoming. It's not that we don't want you to become a Huntress but we're just… afraid," I said trying to put my thoughts into words.

"Afraid of what?" she said as he sobs subsided.

"Afraid of you growing up. We're so used to you being, well, little and cute. Oka-san still sees you as her daughter. I saw you as my kid sister, my Little Red. I guess we were both afraid of letting go of that image of you. We were afraid of you growing up. That was our mistake, trying to stop you from growing up," I explained.

"Skye is right," Andy added. "Growing up is sometimes more scary for those who care for you than for those that are actually maturing. When Skye decided to leave the facility I felt the same way I think. I was… comfortable with everything we had. I knew the little world that was us and the facility and despite all the pain it was what I knew. So when she wanted things to change, when she wanted to grow up, become something other than what we were, it scared me. I didn't want to face that we were different than the little girls who had first showed up at the facility. I didn't want to face that Skye was different, that she wanted something different."

That was something Andy had never told me before. She was always better at explaining things. I never knew that she also thought all that when I left her. It made me cry alongside Robin, the age old sorrow and pain welling up in my heart. I think somewhere inside I always thought that leaving her behind was the wrong decision even though we wouldn't have gotten to where we were without it.

Andy's hand caressed my face as she leaned over and kissed me. We kissed for a while until Robin complained that we were being gross, making us laugh. After our tears had dried and we help dry each other's wet cheeks we sat and began to talk about Beacon. Robin had plenty of questions and we answer them as best we could. It was lucky that she told us this early because, unlike us, she could get into a preparatory combat school before going to Beacon. That alone would be her leagues ahead of her peers. As Andy took over the explanation I excused myself to go talk to my mother.

Outside the moon was high in the sky, sprinkling it's the twilight with soft white beams of light. It cast odd shadows that danced on the ground. Basher sat a ways away from the porch, staring at the pale plate in the sky, cocking his head sideways. I wonder what was going through his head at that moment. Spira it appeared had slowly approach my parents, wary of my father's fear. He looked feverish but wasn't panicking as she watched with one of her blue eyes, having to turn her entire head to one side. She seemed to take a keen interest in Da's pipe, the contained embers in the bowl piquing her curiosity. What surprised me was their song. Da had begun to sing an old song from our hometown, his words mixed in with his hums of verses he didn't know. Spira's soft song weaved into his, her beak slightly agape so that her dark notes could escape from within her. Their melody felt like a memory I knew but never had, so familiar that I could almost imagine but wasn't exactly real. They were painting their own past, creating something entirely their own in song.

My mother sat on the steps, watching Basher with eyes that were lost in her own thoughts. They were red from her tears and her body still jerked when an occasionally sob overcame her. She looked like a reverent statue, back perfectly straight and her hands interlaced on her lap. In the moonlit night with Spira's and Da's song blanketing it was rather striking, like entering a massive cathedral for the first time.

As I approached I took out my flask, feeling that anything I would do would interrupt the reverence of the night. Instead of added my voice to the song. This was a talent that pained me because I rarely used it but it was something that Andy coveted. When she discovered that I could sing she clung to me like I clung to her ears and tail. I had picked it up when I spaced out and practiced with Spira when I was living as a bum, often adding whatever words came to mind to her melody. Andy hadn't yet been able to record my singing yet since I was so cautious… and I rarely sang.

The style of my voice was somewhat powerful and akin to an opera singing although I never matched their talent. The first notes were whispered through my mouth, causing my Da's humming to pause momentarily while my mother sat straighter and her head slowly turning to me in surprise. Spira lifted her bullet shaped head so her eye could rest on me before it shut, lifting her beak high into the air as she sung with full force.

I sang of the moon, the stars, of two lovers who couldn't understand each other but conversed in love. I sang of dreams not to be, of the parents who watched, of Grimm flying in the skies and running through the forest. I kept singing until Spira and Da stopped and only my voice pierced the night. And only when Bash and Spira had crowded around me and my Da put his hand on my shoulder I stopped, taking in one long breath of evening air.

"That was beautiful Skye," my dad said. "When did you learn how to sing?"

"Dumb talent I picked up living on my own," I told him. If I explained how I was a bum for a year he wouldn't ever leave.

"Oka-san."

"No."

The Grimm sensed our need for privacy and politely got up, Bash disappearing into the forest while Spira flew for the moon. They never really did sleep.

"Please don't be like this," I pleaded with her, having my fair share of tears for the night.

"I said no," she said sternly. "I will not have it, not my Little Robin too. She's too young."

"I was already fighting simulated Grimm at her age," I said softly but with some ice to it. "And she isn't _your_ Little Robin anymore. She's a young lady and she's growing up. She can't stay a child forever."

My words were gentle daggers that chipped away at her heart. I hated to be the one who destroyed everything for her but I had to, it was my duty as an adult and as Robin's older sister.

"It's too fast. It's too soon! She could be anything in the world. She could take over your father shop and his work! She could become a teacher, a scientist, a doctor, anything!" my mother wailed, suddenly standing and coming over to me. "But no… No, she wants to become a Huntress just like her sister! Skye this is what I meant!"

"It wasn't my dream to become a Huntress! I didn't force Robin to become one either!" I shouted as my mother's lack of understanding shattered my calm.

I had to calm myself before continuing, the hammer of my words had stunned her.

"I didn't… I didn't…" I breathed focusing my thoughts, "I didn't become a Huntress because I wanted to. I became a Huntress because it was the only thing I had left. I became a Huntress so I had something in the world to live for. I did it to give myself the slightest bit of hope when I had none."

Everything hurt. It just hurt. There's no better way to explain it when the glued, stitched, and taped up pieces of my heart and soul were brought out into the open air.

"I'm not… I didn't want Robin to get a tattoo. I didn't force her to want to become a Huntress. She _chose_ to Oka-san, she did. She maturing and she's making decisions for herself. She's not a child anymore, she's not _your_ Little Robin or _my_ Little Red. She's dreaming. She's making goals for herself. She's thinking about making a difference in the world. She's growing up Oka-san and there's nothing we can do about it," I finally finished.

Despite everything I said I could see the anger and confusing seeping from my mother's aura. All of this and she was still holding onto her duties as a mother.

"I'm sorry," I said guiltily, the most miserable and meaningless thing I could muster.

"No… No, I'm sorry Skye," and that was all my mother said before heading back inside.

I collapsed against the wall of my house, my legs crumbling beneath me. It was cold tonight and the sweat felt freezing on my skin. My mind was utterly spent from emotion after emotion and to be frank I felt brain dead at that moment.

"Your mother understands Blue," my father said, sitting against the wall beside me and puffing on his pipe.

I took a swig from my flask and offered it to my father who surprisingly accepted.

"Didn't seem like it," I replied numbly.

"She's just stubborn," he chuckled, taking a long drink. "She's always been stubborn but understanding. She'll come around I know it just give her time. You've done enough, for Robin and her."

"I wish… I wish I just… could've done more."

"You've done enough Skye, you've done enough," he repeated.

After passing my flask a few more rounds and emptying it of liquor I asked my Da to go ask Andy to bring out my wheelchair. I shooed him off when he tried to ask what was wrong. With him gone I shoved my mouth guard between my teeth and disconnected the braces, my screams muffled by the plastic. Andy had hurried out, fawning over me as she helped me get into my chair. I tied her tail into a knot while her hand were preoccupied with holding me to get her to stop.

I don't remember much of that night after that. The mood was somber. Then there were beers and wine passed around. Weak smiles. Robin perhaps drunk. Apologies but to whom and from who were lost to me. Hugs. Kisses. Red hair, orange hair, fox ears and a tail. My mother crying again.

Then one final clear thing. Andy tucking me into bed, her lips touching mine before she climbed in and held me in her protective arms. I felt safe, invulnerable.

And then her voice, "I love you my bird, my Skye. You are home. You are safe. I will never leave you again."

* * *

The next day we walked to the airship dock, Robin crouching over her raw side. She had been like this the whole morning, the high and endorphins wearing off. My side felt fairly tender and raw as well but it was something I was used to. I wanted to use my semblance to heal her yet doing that would ruin the experience of the tattoo. Pain and healing was a part of the process and to get a tattoo without going through that would be cheating Robin out of tradition.

The docks were in a morning rush, people arriving or leaving for work or for vacation. Large walkways and bridges were crowded as everyone walked briskly with their bags to dozens and dozens of awaiting airships. We headed to the terminal that had international departures, our families' gate flashed the words Atlas above it.

Things were back to normal for the most part, there was a subdued sort of tension in the air but everyone had made their peace with one another. My mother tried her best to return to her usual self and we followed suit. None of us wanted the going away to be somber or sour.

Robin was clutching her side the entire time, taking a painfully slow time to sit. The saran wrap was only temporary and once you removed it an hour later the tattooed skin was agonizingly sensitive. Wearing even a shirt felt like rubbing sand paper against your skin.

"Re- I mean Robin, are you okay?" I asked, sitting beside her.

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah fine, great," she mumbled.

Bending over she reached for her backpack to take out a sandwich but froze, cringing as her clothes ran against her side.

"You little idiot," I sighed, "getting a tattoo at your age."

"Well I didn't hear you stopping me!" she shot back.

"Actually we did if you remember."

"Oh."

"Come here," I said, lifting up her shirt to see.

The tattoo looked fine, normal for the day after. Its edges were red and the tattoo itself was raised a fraction from her surrounding skin, evident of the swelling. I placed my hand over it causing her to cringe even more before closing my eyes.

"Nee-san! That hurts!"

"Relax," I hummed concentrating.

My semblance was a fickle thing, powerful yet draining but also unbelievably precise. As I focused the energy and my aura I felt its familiar white warmth. I had done this so many times over the years as students and as a Huntress it was like riding a bike. With experience though I learned more and more ways to use it. Instead of molding the energy I felt into a blanket like normal I sent it like probing fingers. It was a weird feeling, touching another's body with it for it felt like I was touching another person's soul. I found what I wanted and slowly poured a measured amount of energy into Robin's side. The entire thing only took a few minutes but I slouched back into my chair, drained of good portion of my strength and usual exuberance.

"Woooo," I breathed in deep, eyes momentarily fluttering.

"Nee-san was that… your semblance?" she asked worriedly.

"Yup," I sat up, using her shoulder as support.

Despite the years of training I had only managed to reduce the cost of my healing power a small bit. I wasn't totally disabled by its use anymore but definitely was not up to fighting any Grimm. It was perfect cause we were safe in Vale.

"That's the first time you've used it on me," Robin exclaimed astonished. "It felt… weird, and your hand glowed! But… nothing is different."

It was true that her side was exactly as it had been but that wasn't my intention.

"What do you feel?" I said, ignoring a worried and annoyed glance from Andy. She hated me tiring myself out.

"What do you mean, I feel completely fine," my sister said.

"No pain?"

"Of course, why would I feel…" she stopped herself, suddenly aware of what I had done. Her head shot down to her side and then back up to me, bright as the sun.

"Healing you completely wouldn't be fair. You've got to experience the pain of your tattoo healing, it's part of the process and tradition. Plus I might've healed your side altogether and we'd have to go back and get you re-inked," I chuckled making Robin cringe at the thought. "What I did do though was take off the edge. So for a day or two you won't have to go around like you've got a Piranha Grimm attached by the teeth on your ribs."

"Thank you!" she gasped, having to push her flaming head away.

"Hey… I'm still healing too ya know," we both laughed.

A short while later the gate opened and an attendant announced that passengers headed for Atlas could board. All of us got up and said our goodbye, having some long and near teary eyed embraces. I hugged each and everyone one of them.

"Don't forget you promised to visit!" Robin yelled. I cringed and nodded, remembering it.

My parents waited though, giving me both kisses on the head.

"Remember," my mother whispered, "don't wait too long to ask." With that she turned and left.

I was stunned, through all the week's events that conversation slipping my mind. The weight of the ring around my neck suddenly felt heavier than it should've.

"What did your mother say?" Andy asked as we watched the last passengers board from the windows.

"Huh, oh nothing," I murmured back to her.

She noticed the slight sway I had developed and wrapped her arm around my waist, out of love and also to give me some physical support. I leaned into her, thankful for the help, as we watched the airship lift its fin like wings and sail into the air. For an instant I thought I heard an extremely familiar caw and a white bird-like figure fly up and join the airship in formation. If I wasn't hallucinating I was happy that Spira would protect our families' airship, even when I did tell her to stay home and even when she'd probably scare half the passengers to death.

When we could no longer see the airship we turned and left the terminal. I was content to close my eyes and rest my head on Andy's shoulder, trusting her to lead me in the right direction. Usually I would be embarrassed by being so affection in public but I was tired and could care less. The week had been a rollercoaster yet there were so many high points. Outside there was a commotion, an almost frantic feel to the crowd but I paid it no mind.

"Skye," Andy whispered, the sliver of apprehension in her voice putting me on alert.

I opened my eyes to see the street crowded with protesters from sidewalk to sidewalk. They had signs, banners, and megaphones that blared hardly discernable words. The people around them were quick to get out of their way or take shelter inside.

I sighed, "Guess we should get to work." I pushed myself off her and flexed my muscles to try and ward off my drowsiness.

"Idiot, you just used your semblance plus riot and crowd control were never our forte," she chided me.

"Yeah well-."

"Look! A faunus!" someone in the advancing crowd shouted.

It was then that I noticed what their signs said and what they were shouting. This wasn't some peaceful protest. Their signs had various gross depictions of humans with animal like features, giant red crossed out circles over them. From the megaphones they shouted racist and discriminating words. It was a godsdamn anti-faunus protest.

After the whole White Fang ordeals an anti-faunus group had risen into popularity. Their perspective was clouded and their members were on the radically insane end of the spectrum. Though with the events that had happened their opinions couldn't help but gain support in the mindless eye of the masses. The belief was so strong that they even condoned violence and the persecution of any and all faunuses. I'd seen my fair share of beaten and bruised innocents.

"Andy," I said utterly frightened, "hit the emergency signal for Beacon."

"Get her!" someone at the head of the crowd shouted. It was then I knew we were too late.

Reflexively I reached behind me to draw out my shotgun Klaka only to grab air. I cursed myself, I had left it back home along with my armor. Andy likewise had left all her gear, we weren't expecting any trouble seeing our families off. Thank the gods though that they were already gone. With that though was also our last defense because Spira was gone and Bash, even if we could somehow call him, was on the other side of town. We were alone.

"Andy run!"

"Too late!" she shouted back, the crowd already on us.

I heard the chime as Andy managed to send out an emergency help signal out to Beacon before we were surrounded. Even with that bit of hope it'd be at least five or ten minutes until they could get here. We wouldn't survive for two.

The angry mob was quick to attack us but they were untrained and weren't expecting our abilities. We threw back the first bodies that made the mistake of trying to jump us, striking with our fists when we could. Despite being weaponless, Andy's body and my own were physically fit and trained in hand-to-hand fighting. We were both close-range types to begin with so we had that natural advantage. Not that it mattered though with how outnumbered we were. We had been in dire circumstances before but those times we always had our weapons and gear, our friends as backup. We always had the upper hand as Huntresses but that was meaningless now.

There was a small circle of space between us now that the rioters had become wary of our abilities. A brave soul would jump at us only to get their nose or arm broken, thrown or sucked back into the protection of the crowd. Andy and I were back to back watching them, both searching for a weak point we could use to escape.

"Andy…" I hissed, hating what I was about to ask. "How's C-ydna doing?"

Her body shivered behind me and then took a more offensive stance. "Hehehe… I'm here ya stupid cripple. Here and rrrrready. You two weaklings got yourself into a deep grave I see."

"Thank you," I cringed although he was entirely right. "We may need your help," I kicked another fool in the groin, snapping his head to one side with a round kick.

"Oh ho ho!" he shrilled, breaking the fingers of another rioter and then head butting him. "No, I think I'll watch the cripple and the dumb slave struggle. Oh, oooohhh watching you suffer makes me so giddy…"

"You can't survive without us."

"Tccccch! I can survive without _you_ …" he paused, letting out a maniacal scream at the mob that almost sounded like laughter. "I'll be he-he here to have some fun wheels," he said but I knew that he understood.

We both went silent, noticing a shift to the crowd. People were working their way to the front from behind, others passing something over their heads. Then the frontline rioters were suddenly armed. They had pipes, bats, and all manner of makeshift weapons. I heard Andy/C-ydna take in a breath. That's how fucked we were.

An odd whistling was the only warning I got before I felt something sting me in the neck. Reaching back I pulled out a metal dart, its needle dripping with some sort of fluid. The world began to sway and my vision blurred. I couldn't tense my muscles, I couldn't even make a fist! Tranquilizer I thought, turning to face Andy.

The crowd saw my lack of guard and moved in. There were already three of them advancing on Andy. "Fuck," I muttered.

I leapt onto Andy, tackling her to the ground as the rioters raised their weapons over their heads. Covering her with my body I wrapped my arms around her, making sure that nothing could hurt her. If it was the last thing I did on this earth it would be to protect her.

"Skye! What are you doing?!" she shouted, trying to get out from under me but I wouldn't let her.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed as the first club struck my back. "What does, AH! It look like?" I chuckled, blood dripping from my mouth.

"No! Skye stop! Get off! I can fight!" Andy, my Andy wailed.

"I'm… OOUF! Sorry hnnnnggg!" more and more hits landed on me. "Can't let you get hurt my love."

"No! NO!" she shouted, still fighting my body. "Don't do this! Don't Skye!"

Andy was crying. Odd, of all the things that were happening it hurt most to see her cry.

I was blacking out, either from the tranquilizer or the beating I was getting. It didn't matter, I had one last thing to do. One last stupid, idiotic thing to do. Mom was right, waiting too long was a mistake.

"Andy, there's a necklace around my neck, take it off," I cried, feeling a rib break. "Hurry!"

She scrambled to find the chain, tearing it from my neck with a jerk. Her lips were muttering something. Her tears kept flowing. I pet one of her ears with a bloody hand.

"What… is," Andy tried to say.

"There's a message UGHH! A message in my Coffin, AHHH! It'll explain everything," I told her. "Just step into it and say your name."

The pain from my body subsided as the drug numbed my body beyond my control.

"Andy, I love you. Will you marry m-," before I could finish someone grabbed the ribbons of my hair, pulling me off Andy.

I screamed, not from the pain but from being dragged away from the person who matter most to me, being taken away without even getting an answer.

As the feet and legs passed by as whoever dragged me from the crowd I heard the blaring of sirens. Backup had finally arrived, Andy was safe.

The world faded from around me and I whispered, "Goodbye."


	4. Chapter 4

Everything was muffled around me, my mind fuzzed by the drug's effects. The only sound that I heard in the darkness was the painstakingly slow thumping of my heartbeat. Time seemed to move like a movie on slow motion, or at least it felt that way without any reference. In one instance I saw the crowd growing smaller as whoever had me by the hair dragged me away. I saw my arms and legs still and useless. The street and buildings standing next to it shook as I was thrown into a large vehicle, a van. Next time my eyes fluttered open the wind was a whirlwind around me. Hands carried me roughly from the van into an airship, strapping me to a stretcher on the floor. I don't know how long it had been but the drug was beginning to wear off because I could keep my eyes open for longer periods and my hearing had started to return.

"They really beat her… mercenaries. Were… necessary?" said a female voice.

I cringed my ears not working quite right. They only caught pieces of the voices around me. My eyes weren't doing much better, everything seemed blurry and the figures around me looked like dark shadows on an alley wall that loomed over me.

"… the job done. It doesn't… she is as long as she is… our possession," another male voice said.

That voice sent tingles through my mind. It sounded so similar and I swear I had heard it before. Where was it from? Whoever it belonged to all I could remember was that I wasn't very fond of its owner.

"Injection… work now. This is… time to test," he continued.

There was the sharp pinprick of a needle being shoved roughly into my neck. Cold fluid mixed with the warm blood pumping through my veins. Whatever they injected me with hurt… a lot. It also muddled the focus of my mind even more.

"Careful you…" he chided. "I can't… her dead yet. The… suppress her semblance and… Once she's… until then she's… specimen. We can't have her killed yet. After I'm done with my research then we can dispose of her."

My hearing finally returned and through the haze of my head I felt a bone shattering fear arise. The horror of what I was hearing from my captors sounded too similar to my time back at Atlas. Even those memories were things that I wished would stay just that, memories. I hated to imagine what they had in store for me. Panic began to flood through me but then made me pause.

I wasn't having a flashback. In fact, despite the horror and panic I felt I was perfectly fine, considering the circumstances. By this time I'd be an emotional wreck and in Andy's arms.

Andy… I had forgotten about her. I had forgotten that I failed to ask… and failed to get an answer.

I had to escape.

My semblance! If I could use that to cure me of the drug in my system. I squirmed against my restraint with all the strength I could muster, trying to focus the energy inside me. Reaching for it I dove deeper into my mind and grasped for that raw power. As I closed around it the energy slipped past my grip. It felt like water running through my fingers. What was going on?! I could sense it, my semblance, could see it within me but I couldn't control it. Hell I couldn't even touch it.

"Doctor, I think she's awake," said the female.

"Of course, what else would you call her fighting against the restraints? To think you were the best assistant I could find. It's fine, she can't escape in her state. The drug nullifies her semblance and also paralyzes her. The only place she's going is where we take her," he said smugly.

I moaned, drool trailing down my cheek. So that's what the drug was doing to me. It explained why I couldn't use my semblance. Shit. But wait, how'd they know about my semblance? And how did they know how to suppress it?

"Oh yes Skye," the man said, bending over so that he looked me straight in the eye. "I know all about you. I know all about how you grew up paralyzed from the waist down, how you wear mechanical leg braces that allow you to walk and feel. I know about your semblance and how you can heal any kind of wound and how healing the tiniest of injuries exhausts you. Oh and I know all about your friend Andy."

I froze, eyes locked with what I could now see was the haggard, bearded face above me. The recognition did more than freeze me with fear and flood me with panic. There was just no way… no fucking way!

"In fact it was my knowledge of you and that failed faunus experiment that allowed me to capture you so easily," he sneered. "If you haven't realized it yet, I am the head scientist of your experiments and I'm here to finish my research. You're going home."

I screamed.

* * *

The hours that passed by were as much torture as my old egghead in charge doing a sort of checkup on me. My only in-flight movie was the fuzzy panic that chained me down as much as the restraints. I watched as they hooked me up to an IV and various monitoring devices, taking notes down on their scrolls. I tried everything but the fluid they kept pumping into my veins was sure to have more of whatever it was that kept me numb and unable to use my semblance. It wasn't a surprise too when I realized that my leg braces had also been disable. What I did have on my side was my wristband that they had overlooked. My armor was leagues away by now but I was able to lockdown my braces so they couldn't remove them. Still it was only a matter of time before they found out about that too.

Atlas was across the oceans and a world away from Vale. After trying as much as I could to get out of my restraint, much to the amusement of the scientist whose name I couldn't remember, I tried to sleep off the ride. I had to stay calm, had to think, and somehow I always came back to Andy. Damn I was a fool. Or that's what she would think of me throwing myself to protect her. I hoped she'd forgive me, if I ever got the chance to ask. When I only snagged a couple hours of sleep I gave up, the rigged deck of the airship made my body ache unbearably.

"What the fuck is your name?" I said aloud, slurring my words slightly.

"Oh you don't remember?" he said casually, glancing from his scroll.

"I try to… forget everything associated with what you assholes did. Ya know, helps me stay sane when you all were trying to drive me _in_ sane," I scoffed.

He chuckled, "Sly remarks like that only give me more to use you know. I've heard all about your little fits. And my name is Dr. Evan Kane."

His name brought back a rush of memories, his sadistic smile, the tests, and the pain. I pushed it out of my head because what he said was more chilling than his name.

"What do you mean?"

"Your panic attacks, or what we'd call in the medical society-."

"Megalomaniac Torturer's cult," I corrected him.

"In the medical society," he continued, "as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We actually induced them as part of our test."

"You… you were the ones who did this to me?" I whispered through gritted teeth. At that moment I imagined all the ways that I could fillet Kane while keeping him alive.

"Oh yes," he smiled, "it was to see how you would perform under the stress. Your mind did some fascinating things to stay sane."

It was only because of Andy that I stayed sane, I thought to myself. Every horrible time, through every painful night and every near death experience there was always Andy to catch me. Now she wasn't here and it was my fault.

My silence prompted Kane to continue. "Well it was easy to concoct this little drug that we have you hooked up to. It suppresses your blackouts and flashbacks but also gets rid of that nuisance of a semblance you have."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, it took me years to develop it just for you but its uses are endless when you think about it. Bottom line is that it's a semblance neutralizer, pretty useful in my plans," he said.

"Fuck you."

All he did was laugh. "Look outside."

I cringed my neck to be able to glance out the open side of the airship. Outside it was dark, the last rays of the sun fading into the distance. Even in the obscure night I could see an outline that I had last laid eyes upon when I was a teenager. I had hoped to never see it again, its very image terrorized me.

"Welcome home."

"No… NO!" I screamed, trying futilely to break my restraints.

The facility had survived the years, weathering the elements. It must've stayed open a while after I left, remembering how Andy stayed. They kept her projects open, at least for a while, when they shut down mine. Even then, vines and ivy had crawled up the resilient walls groping for the sunlight. Its gates and fences had rusted and lean in a half bow to the wind. The lights were out and windows were water-stained, giving it a very haunted house sort of feel. It was more like a torture house. What the hell was I thinking, it is a torture house. My own personal hell with my name on it.

Strong winds blasted through the open side door as the exhaust from the engines rebounded from the ground. It was so familiar that I could've been on a mission for Beacon, hopping off like so many times before in my armor and with Andy, my Grimm. Now I was a prisoner again, reliving my childhood in an adult body. With the airship landed and its turbines winding down, Kane's assistants began to undo the leather cuffs that held me down. I saw a chance opening up. I pretended to be more drugged than I actually was, forcing them to pick me up to transfer me onto an awaiting gurney. When they were about to set me down I shook them loose, throwing fists and elbows into ribs and jaws. I hit the ground, my captors nursing their wounds, rolling over to get onto my feet and run. No matter what, with my legs I could outrun them. I remembered enough about the nearby towns and could call Beacon, call Andy, and somehow get this drug out of my system. I never got to my feet.

"Fuck!" I yelled, realizing that Kane had disabled my braces.

I did the only thing I could, and crawled with my arms as fast as I could. The decadent asphalt cut into my forearms and elbows as I literally clawed for my freedom. No more than a few feet away I felt a foot connect with my ribs, agony arcing like lighting through me. I tried to curl protectively into a ball but another foot planting itself on my back… hard. Another needle stabbed its way into my neck and what little control of my body I had left soon disappeared.

They kept me conscious when I wished they would put me to sleep. The squeal and whine of the gurney's wheels sounded like kids screaming as they wheeled me into the gates of hell. No, it sounded like Andy's screams, my screams, tearing through my memory as I relived all those days of tests and experiments.

Wheeling me inside the lobby I saw the state that the years of abandonment had done to the facility. Its walls had protected its guts well enough but there was dust caked on every surface, slight cracks in the floor and walls, and a minimal amount of lighting. The gurney caught on one of the holes in the floor, throwing me off and ripping one of the wheels from it.

"Are you okay?" Kane's female assistant asked, kneeling next to me.

"Why the fuck should you care?" I shot back.

"Well it's my job," she managed to say before getting tossed aside by Kane.

"Stupid woman! I don't pay you to be kind to test subjects!" he growled. "Well Skye, you're going to have to walk, are we going to have any problems?"

Before I could come up with a retort he keyed a command on his scroll and my leg braces went haywire. They bent in ways they shouldn't have and contorted my legs in the wrong ways. I felt my tendons and muscles whine like the Coffin's actuators when they were stressed beyond their limits, pain shooting up my spine. I screamed, trying to force my legs into their right positions to no avail.

"YES!" I bellowed, "YES, just make it stop!"

Kane hit another command and my legs returned to normal. I even could stand and use them like normal yet I guessed that he had put limiters on its strength.

"Good," he said pulling out a gun.

"What the hell is that for, I said fucking yes! You won't shoot..." I taunted. "You're a doctor. I'm your _important_ specimen." Somehow, unsurprisingly, I wasn't convinced of my own words.

The gunshot made me shirk, covering up with my arms and instinctively seeking cover. My ears blared a toneless note, the result of its intensified report as the sound reverberated off the wall. I dropped my arms, confused that the round hadn't struck me until I heard the wheezing on the floor.

Blood poured from the assistant's chest from where Kane had shot her, a pool of dark red slowly painting the floor.

"You… You… Why the fuck did you do that?!" I shouted incredulously as I rushed to her side.

I had never paid much attention to first aid training at Beacon. In my mind, my semblance had rendered those classes useless to me. I could heal any injury so it didn't matter to me that I got low grades there. Now, watching the prone woman gasping for air before me made me regret it all. Placing my hands on her chest I tried to reach for my semblance with no result. I racked my brain as I tried to remember the basics of first aid.

"You said I wouldn't shoot," Kane laughed. "I had to prove you wrong. She was useless to me anyways."

I ignored him, focusing on the woman. Pressure, pressure! That was it, I had to stop the bleeding. Clasping both my hands over the hole in her chest I stemmed some of the bleeding, red staining me up to my elbows as blood spurting from between my fingers. Blood spattered from her lips as she coughed. That wasn't a good sign. It meant… It meant… Fuck me, blood was filling her lungs. The bullet must have pierced one of them. Her chest was rising unevenly as she heaved ragged breaths that only made her cough violently. A bloody hand shakily clasped onto my wrist as I held my hands over her wound, willing her to stop bleeding. Desperate eyes interlocked with mine as she stared pleadingly up at me. Those eyes emptied as another gunshot rang out, blowing a gaping hole into her forehead and spraying blood and brain tissue over my face. The hand on my wrist instantly went limp and the heartbeat beneath my hands silenced itself as her body let out a final sigh.

"NO! NO!" I screamed as Kane's other goons pried me off her corpse. "YOU KILLED HER! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER! SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! SHE DIDN'T FUCKING DO ANYTHING!"

I couldn't tear my eyes of her body as they dragged me away. Too many times I had seen eyes like her, weak eyes, dying eyes, the gazes of people too far gone that I had failed to save. They were the stares of people who'd I'd never met but would never forget as they died in my arms.

"Now Skye," Kane said, holding up his scroll, "do I have to remind you to cooperate?"

I wanted to kill Kane. I wanted him to feel pain. I wanted to skin him alive.

Silently I stopped fighting against the arms that held me and stood on my own feet, glaring into the evil face.

"I will kill you."

"Oh Skye," he said as they shoved me in down one of the hallways, "you couldn't kill as a child, you can't kill as a Huntress. You never had it in you."

As they escorted me through the hallways I muffled my sobs to the best of my abilities. The blood was warm and wet on my hands and face, half of it rapidly drying to a crust while the excess dripped from my fingertips. I was so shaken, it was the first time that anyone had been shot that close to me. I had seen death and comforted the souls of people as they departed this world for the next but none as horrifying as that. These ancient walls laughed at me as I trudged down them, seemingly giddy to have me trapped within them again.

I made a turn from memory, heading to the dorms where Andy and my old room used to be. There was a sorrowful sort of déjà vu, an almost warm curiosity to see if and how it had changed.

"No, not that way," said Kane from behind me. "To the labs I should think. You've outgrown your old quarters and test specimens don't need them," he said in his educated voice. Gods how it made me cringe how he used his intelligence in despicable ways. At least I put my skills to use to help others.

Turning in the opposite direction I walked towards the old testing rooms. As I walked I tried to concoct another escape plan. Nothing I thought of seemed likely to succeed with Kane in control of my leg braces and one of his other assistants holding onto the IV that was attached to my arm. The drugs they kept me on and their monopoly over me ability to move were obstacles the size of Basher. Oh there was that too, no pet Grimm to help me, not even to comfort me. If I could get into a wheelchair I might've had a chance… if I had a head start and a slope to speed me along.

Ghosts of my pasts flashed in my eyes, distracting me from my great escape. They weren't like flashbacks, not painful or mind bending hallucinations. It was like seeing another reality overlap the one I was in, cloud like images formed from my memories. There we were, walking down the hallway to our tests, our normal routine. Was I always that short? Andy's ears were barely noticeable in some instances, fully grown in others. We'd be running away from guards, sneaking out, I grinned weakly seeing us carrying much smaller Grimm. There was scraps on the walls at about thigh height, I wondered if it was from my wheelchair running into them. Then I saw my very first memory of Andy, me lying helpless on the floor and her running the corner to come to my rescue. If only that could happen now.

Inside my old testing rooms were signs of recent use and attempts to bring it back to operations. It was cleaner and power had been restored, the computers and various contraptions filling the room with ambient light. They didn't let me study things long, throwing me roughly into the simulator room. Pivoting I swiftly kicked onto to connect with the closed reinforced door. I tried kicking again only scraping its surface. This room had to withstand the simulation fights and the raw power of my prototype suits, it made sense that they locked me in here. It was a perfect cage and lab table. That didn't stop me from trying. I pounded on the walls until my leg braces locked up, bending my knees in the wrong direction.

"Now Skye, must I remind you?" a voice came through the speaker system. "You may have prevented me from removing your braces but I still have control."

"Fuck you!" I screamed back in retaliation.

The left brace jerk my knee hard and I heard a pop accompanied with a rush of pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed.

"I didn't want to do that," Kane's voice said as the braces released tension.

Whimpering I crawled to a corner, holding my knee. It wasn't broken thankful but that bastard had dislocated my knee. Shoving my shirt into my mouth I bit down hard as I did the task at hand, a snap announced my knee settling back into the correct place. I laid against the steel wall defeated and caressing the pain.

Time crept by, or it flew, I couldn't tell inside. The only reference I had was when they dimmed the lights a fraction. I almost wished that I could have my flashbacks, at least they would let me see Andy occasionally. Thoughts of her and home made me cry and I didn't care that they were watching me. Atlas, the facility, the scientist, my past had swallowed me up again.

"I'm sorry Andy," I muttered, "I'm so sorry."

* * *

Day 1…

Managed to steal a scroll. Somehow I doubt that I did it by skill or luck, they let me have it and are letting me keep it. I loosened a tile on the wall, using it as a compartment to at least try and hide this scroll. It's probably all part of their experiment, to keep a mental record on me. I need to keep track of the days… or try at least. They give me meals regularly, or at least I think so. The lights don't dim anymore when I feel tired at night, I think it's night. Fuck.

Today is day one, I'm marking it down in her and scratching it with marks on the wall. Nearly tore off a damn nail making it deep enough. They spent the day trying to get my leg braces off. Much to their displeasure they couldn't manage to get them off as much… as they tried. Expecting another escape attempt they drugged me again, turned on some sort of gas inside the sim room. While half of them were electrocuting me, hammering at my braces, doing everything they could to cause me pain while battering my legs nothing work. Thank gods for resilient Atlas tech. Kane watched from a distance, taking notes and doing some more examinations on me. Must've had to update the old test profile of me. They found my control bracelet pretty quick. After some more torture I had to admit what it did, leaving out the parts of how I secured my braces with them. That pissed them off, my laughter turning into screams as they tried something new, electrocuting my nervous system. Still didn't work though.

They injected me more with that drug they developed. Locked my semblance away tight along with my flashbacks. Thanks no thanks guys. I overhead them discussing ways to keep administering it to me. Apparently the injections have to be regular and often for the drug to keep working. Maybe I can use that somehow to my advantage. First day and I'm already pretty beat up. I've got bruises, some cuts, nerves literally feel raw, but nothing is broken yet. Seems like they don't mind damaging my outsides as long as I'm alive, feel like that'll change soon.

Andy would hate seeing me like this. She always hated seeing me hurt. Never seemed to get it through her head that I felt the same way which is always why I was protecting her. Maybe she did know but didn't care. Stupid fox.

I'm going to try and get some sleep

Day 2…

Mother fuckers! Lights dimmed last night but woke up to a fucking Beowulf about to swipe at me. Old training in this damn place for years though literally engraved the Grimm attack patterns. They hadn't changed them, it was easy to take down the one Grimm. Assholes! That's probably just the start though, another fucking tests, it'll all get worst from here.

They didn't bother me today. Left me in the room with that one Grimm assault. Meals got slid through the door. Yeah not trying anything with that little slit, nearly chopped off my damn fingers closing the thing. Seems today though they were toying with me, gassing the room, turning up the heat, a Grimm or two here and there. Easy compared to what they can do. More tests. They're not letting me out to use the restroom, assholes. I don't want to even try to explain what I'm having to do.

My injuries are adding up and it's only day two. If this pace keeps up not even my training will help me. Cuts and bruises are going to turn into broken bones, bleeding, stuff I can't stop without my semblance. But they need me alive to do their experiments, Kane needs me alive… I hope. No, can't think about that, have to keep going, have to stay alive, have to minimize the damage I take. I need a fucking weapon.

I wonder… I wonder what Andy is doing right now. Is she alright? Did she make it out okay? The sirens and backup from Beacon arrived just as they pulled me away, she should be okay. Did they know I was taken away? Do they know where I am? No, probably not. Still, knowing them they'll find me. They have to! And Andy will beat me up when she gets here… or hug me, haha I can never tell. They'll find me… They definitely will find me.

Day 7

Everything hurts… It all fucking hurts.

They broke my legs today. I can't stand. I can't walk. Got pissed off when I kept trying to laugh at their attempts to remove my leg braces. Decided to up things a notch and test my pain tolerance. Bent my legs in a vice until they broke, one at a time. Couldn't stop screaming. Then they electrocuted my nervous system again, burned me, I can't… I can't remember the rest. I might've blacked out.

Threw me back into the sim room and I had to crawl over to my hiding place for my scroll. Gods if a Grimm appears I'm done for. I put the bones back into place as best I could, almost made me black out again. My screams echo in this room… so do my sobs… The braces are still attached, one of the main reasons that the bone didn't splinter out of my skin. They acted as natural splints thankfully. There swelling quite a bit though, the area is turning purple too.

Noticed something today, they hadn't been given me any shots or injections of the semblance suppressant. Besides gassing me out like a fucking honey bee they haven't done anything. But I still can't access my semblance. So they must be spiking my food and water. It's the only way they could be getting that shit into my system.

I've stopped eating and drinking the stuff they give me. Maybe if I can last long enough I can get back enough of my power to heal myself and can think of another plan to escape. I know my body can last weeks without food… but I remember in one of the classes at Beacon that I can only survive a few days without water. I wish I had a fucking drink or my flask.

Either I get my semblance back or… I die from dehydration… I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.

Day 9

Can't… think… barely… type… So… thirsty… Hungry… Must… focus…

I think… I have a fever… Can't stop shaking… Freezing but sweating… Legs look infected from… from… from the broken… can't think…

Semblance… yes semblance… think… I can feel it… almost can control it… almost… almost… at my limit… I might… die…

Day 15

Haven't been able to write in here until now. I lasted until I couldn't move my body and I could feel my own stores of energy sorely depleted. They noticed that I wasn't eating the meals and finally stopped me. Didn't even need to gas me I was too weak to put up a fight. I was midway through healing my legs in my delirious state. Funny if I finished I might've gone into a coma again. I managed to cure the infection and fever, my semblance was mending the breaks when I was stopped. My legs are tender but I can stand and walk at least.

Realizing that I had found out about the spiked food they devised a different way for my daily medicine. Kane found some sort of collar and clamped it tight around my neck. It gives me a regular injection of his drug about three or four times a day. The thing is freaking ridiculous, an inch thick and heavy plus it's tight around my neck. Sometimes it can really constrict my breathing. Andy would think it's kinky…

Two weeks… I've been here a full two weeks. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing but pain. No one except Kane and his assistants. What is taking my friends so long?! They should've been here by now. They should know where I am. Andy would've told them. If they haven't shown up by now… then they really don't know where I am or even who kidnapped me. Or maybe they think I'm dead… they've given up on me…

No I can't think like that. Andy has always been there for me. She has always found me and I have always found her. There's no way that she'd give up. She'd keep trying to find me. She wouldn't stop. She has Bash and Spira to help her to, she'll be alright, she'll be alright.

Unless she's dead… No, no she's alive, she's definitely alive.

I need to keep going, I can't stop. I have to last until they find me, or until I can escape.

Day 33

Can barrely tttype rrriight nwww. My fngers are broken. They've brroken evvry bone in my body, orr almost every bone. Fffccckkk hng nn.

Argh, that's better. Used my semblance to mend my fingers, got the worst injuries patched up before they injected me again. They've tortured me so much that they've had to drag me into the next room for their experiments. The injections have been stopping long enough for me to get a trickle of my semblance back. Once I've healed a handful of my injuries though they inject me immediately so I can't use it again. I can only wield a bit of its energy, can't even use it other method… No can't talk about that too much, don't want them to find out about what else I can do now.

Their experiments… no, their torture reached a peak recently. Nonstop for I don't know how long, left me tied to that table while they… I don't even want to write it down. The marks on my body speak for themselves, outside and in. Kept me there until I finally broke and gave them what they wanted, disconnecting my leg braces. That was I don't know how many days ago. Don't even have my wheelchair. They just tossed me into the sim room when they're done using me, have to crawl everywhere. Can't even relieve myself properly, soil my pants since I can't control anything below my legs. My clothes have been torn, shredded, and bloody from the abuse but this is the worst. I'm living in my own literal shit. Fuck them! Fuck them all to hell! I'm going to kill them, I'm going to break every bone in their bodies and skin them alive. I'll heal them as many times as I have to just so I can kill them again and again and again.

Kane started new tests. He… he… he… started messing with my head again. Told me that even though I had healed my mind with my semblance it didn't fix what he had left. Inside my brain there was some sort of implant, left from my days here at the facility. Gods damn it. Can't even keep my mind safe from them. My semblance had fixed the memory lapses but its reduce affect still gave me my flashbacks and nightmares. Mother fuckers. Even now it's… hard to think… The memories come and go, sometimes I forget well, a lot of things. I've been trying to keep it in check when they let me use my semblance but I can't access enough of my power to fix it.

This is… worse than the physical torture, the experiments. I wish that he'd keep going with those, I'd rather have my bones broken again and again then to have to face this all over again. He made me beg, he made me plead to stop. The tests broke me in an instant, my mental barriers were overcome like snapping uncooked spaghetti. I begged and begged until I couldn't remember any more. I'm losing focus, my grip on reality is slipping. I can't tell what's real and what's fake.

It's been a month. They still haven't come for me. There's no sign of any sort of rescue attempt. I'm losing hope. I don't think they're coming for me. They've given up. She's given up. She… she… who was I talking about… I can't remember there was some girl… she was important somehow I think. Who was she? Remember, why can't I remember? The facility, I'm here? I'm here at the facility. A girl… there was a girl with me here. Her name was… name was… something orange… a fox? A fox, a fox, a fox… ANDY! That was her name, her name was Andy.

Oh no. No, no, no, don't forget her! Don't forget Andy! I can barely remember her face anymore. What did her voice sound like? I miss her… I really fucking miss her. I'm never going to see her again am I?

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!

Day 59

I can't take it. No more. Stop it. STOP IT! Hit me, break my bones, stab me, shoot me just no more! I can't… I can't…

Andy… I saw Andy… She came here… She was here… Then she attacked me. She tried to kill me. I couldn't… I had to… but I couldn't… No… No… Then she went away. I couldn't understand it. It didn't make any sense. She came back, I had almost forgotten what she looked like. Her smile, her ears, her warmth. She attacked me… again… and again… and again… She wouldn't leave. She didn't stop. I could only crawl away. It wasn't C-ydna, it was Andy.

Then I… then I… I… I had to do it. I couldn't but I had to. I had to kill her… I HAD TO! SHE WOULDN'T STOP! SHE WAS INSANE!

Her body stayed in the room with me… I had to watch as the color drained from her skin, the life disappear from her eyes, the blood coat the floor. Then she stood up, she stood up and came at me again. I finally noticed she didn't have her tail… She was a simulation… She wasn't real… Kane, Kane and his demons made her… made her and made me kill her.

It didn't stop. It just wouldn't stop! They keep making her appear. They kept making her attack me. They corrupted her, made her bloodthirsty, insane. They made me kill her and kill her, every… single… time…

I can't… go on… I can't do this anymore… This is too much… I can't… I can't… I can't…

I want to die. I want to die. Kill me. Just kill me already Kane! I know you read this, I know that you see what goes on in my head. Just fucking kill me already! I can't stand myself… I can't live with myself. You won… you won… so just… kill me.

Day 72

There not coming for me. They forgot about me. They forgot about useless, cripple, can't walk Skye. They think I'm dead. I am dead. I'm broken. I'm gone. I'm never going back. There's no rescue. No one will save me. No one will break down the doors and take me away from this place. I'm going to die here. All Andy will find is the dust from my bones.

They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me. They're not coming for me…

Day 88

My only escape now is death. It's the only way I can get out of here. I broke a plate that had food on it. I barely eat now. I feel like my skin is hugging my bone. Hair is ragged, to my waist. Broke a plate. Took a shard and hid it. Sharpened it. Made it sharp. Sharp enough. Hid it away. Going to slit my wrists. Goodbye.

Day 93

They caught me. Noticed I had cut my wrists. Saw the blood. Put bandages on. Made me use my semblance. They force feed me now. Use a tube down my throat. Only way. Nothing left. Can't even die.


	5. Chapter 5

I can't move, I've been lying here on the corner in my corner of filth for as long as I can remember. I don't have the strength to sit up or even crawl to where they put my food. I've lost all my muscle, I feel like a skeleton. I don't even remember the last time I had a drink of water, it's been so long. Three months I think it's been, they've kept me alive. I don't think I can last much longer. I've got nothing left.

How did it feel to walk, to run? I can't remember. They have my leg braces locked away from me. I can only see the world from the height of a rat, forever imprisoned to scurry on the ground. What was it like to stand on my own two legs? I can't remember.

There was a girl that was special to me. What was her name? I can't remember. She was really important though, really beautiful. I think… I think I loved her. I wanted to marry her too. I can't remember her name, only something about fox ears. It doesn't make any sense. I can't even tell the time of day much less remember things like that.

A solid thud came through from the floor. What was that? More thuds, it sounded like people running around in the control room. They yelling in there too. Must be preparing for another round. I wish they'd kill me already. Their yells turned into shouts, they were more frantic than normal. That was new. The patter of feet went quiet. That's nice, it's silent again.

My ignorant bliss was shattered as an explosion shook the walls around me, dust raining down in a thick mist.

"What… in the…" I croaked.

Rapid fire snaps erupted from the control room. It sounded so familiar like… gunfire. There was more quivers from the ground as it was nervous, more people running around and explosions sounding. Whatever they were doing in their sounded painful for me. All of a sudden things were silent again. It was a second before the floor echoed the pitter patter again but this time it sounded like a single person. They were saying something, then shouted it, the word muffled through the wall. Something much, much larger walked and then the control room wall, mirror window and all burst forth in a magnificent shower of rubble.

A slightly smaller than normal Ursa rolled in amongst the debris and I cringed, screaming. When the disintegrated wall finally settled it shook off the rocks from its back, focusing its gaze on me. I tried to crawl deeper into my corner by my arms couldn't bear my weight much less drag me. My frail body was already tucked as tightly into my decrepit corner as much as it could. The Beowulf was smaller than average but was still ferocious, it howled and roared, drowning out my weak screams.

Strange though, it was entirely the wrong color. That Beowulf was white, not black. He looked like… like… B… Ba… Basher…

No it couldn't be, it's another simulation. It's a fake. He's not real. It's part of their scheme to torture me, he's not real.

That white Grimm gave out another howl but this time it sounded almost triumphant, like it was crying with euphoria.

"Easy Basher, easy," said an angelic voice from behind him.

No, not this again.

She stepped out from his shadow, petting his side like she would to keep him calm before she directed her gaze at me. It looked exactly like her, like all the times before. The same bright orange hair, the gentle lips, the kind eyes, and those lovely fox ears. They had even managed to get her protective aura right this time. But no, it was a fake, it wasn't real. She'd come over and try to be nice to me and then attack me the next second.

Taking a step toward me she raised a hand hesitantly, those eyes suddenly full of despair.

"Skye," she whispered.

I screamed, covering my head with my arms. "NO! NO! GO AWAY! YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

The fake Andy rushed over, her hand soft and gentle taking my arms.

"Skye it's me," she whispered again.

"YOU'RE NOT REAL! YOU'RE NOT REAL! I KNOW YOU'RE NOT REAL! I KILLED YOU! I KILLED YOU! I'VE KILLED YOU BEFORE AND I'LL DO IT AGAIN!" I bellowed.

"Skye, it's Andy, it's your fox," she said, her words breaking through her sobs.

I flailed my thin arms at her, batting her away. I scored a strike on her cheek before she took my wrists.

"Skye! No, stop! It's me! Can't you tell, it's me!" she wailed.

"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT! THEY ALWAYS SAY THAT! YOU'RE NOT REAL!"

Her arms pushed mine aside easily and suddenly I found myself wrapped in her arms. Even then I fought, I fought desperately. Worming as much as I could, trying to use my elbows to hit her, I tried everything.

Something wet dripped on my head as more sobs pierced my ear. They were tears. She was crying. No, she'd stab me, hit me soon. But she's never cried before. No, she can't be real, she can't be. But this one feels so much like her.

"Skye, my Skye, my bird," she muttered, her hands touching my ribs and the side of my head, both where I had my tattoos.

My hair had grown out so much that my diving lark wasn't visible anymore but you could see the paw through what was left of my shirt. They brought up old memories, good ones, times where Andy had comforted me, held me just like this and reminded me. It made me stop fighting.

"My bird, my Huntress, do you remember when we got these tattoos? We were here. You got a bird for you, the same one that I have here on my neck," she took my hand and guided it to where hers was.

"No," I croaked, my throat horse from screaming. "Anyone… could know that."

She smiled, actually smiled. "I remember a time before when I had to convince you like this."

"Nothing… nothing you can say… will make me believe you… I know it's all a trick… It's always a trick," I said, desperately holding onto what I knew was my sanity.

Slowly, without looking away, she reached under her shirt, pulling out a silver ring looped through the small chain links of a necklace. It was a ring I knew, a ring that I had carried for years, a ring that only she had. I reached out with a shaking hand, with her hands guiding me, until it rested on my palm. It was real, it was real and I knew every little scratch or tarnish on its silvery vine engraved surface.

"You saved me my bird. You threw yourself over my body and protected me. You told me to take this off your neck and left me a message in your armor," she whispered.

For the first time in a long while I opened my eyes. I struggled to break through my ruin of mental barriers and diluted reality to see. Holding me was Andy, the real Andy, my Andy. Pain trickled down her cheeks in tears, rolling past her quivering lips. Dust and blood topped her face, barely concealing her bloodshot eyes and the dark bags beneath them.

"Andy…" I uttered, tears streaming from my eyes. "My Andy… I can't… is that you?"

Finally her composure collapsed and she broke into an uncontrollable wail, hugging me tight into her. For the first time in months I felt safe.

"It can't be you," my imprisoned mind fought, "it just can't be."

"Shhhhh, shhhh," she cooed into my ears. "Everything is going to be alright, I'm here now, you're safe."

Andy's voice still didn't sound right, putting me in a fort of uncertainty. Something about her sounded tired, weak, desperate, and hopeless. It was like she had spent a good amount of time her at the facility being tortured as well. Whatever it was twisted the emotions I saw on her face, made every word she spoke seem like a huge strain and shrouded, like she was consumed in a rage of desperation. That rage… it must've kept her awake at night.

"Can you use your semblance Skye?" she asked softly, running her hands over my body as much to soothe me as it was to check for injuries of which I had plenty.

I tried to force out a word but it caught in my throat, making me hack violently. I shook my head, rancid and unkept strands of hair shaking about. Raising I hand I touched the thick collar that was clamped to my neck, pushing back what was once my beautiful black curtain of hair.

"Oh my, what is that?" she muttered.

"They," I said finding my weak voice, "suppress my semblance. This injects me."

On cue the collars injections plunged into my neck and a wave of weariness overcame me. Thoughts became muddle and reality became fake. The memories started to wink out and in of existence.

"Where am… Who are you?" I suddenly asked. "You seem familiar."

Andy froze in front of me, anger flooding through her. "Skye," she struggled to keep her voice calm, "it's Andy."

"Andy… Oh… Hi, what are you doing here?"

Instead of answering she gently slid her arms beneath me, picking my light body up like I was a baby. Andy's arms held me tight to her chest as she walked through the maze of rubble into what was left of the control room. On the three walls that were left there was a fresh coat of red blood. There were a few lifeless bodies on the floor, those who were still alive were on their knees in handcuffs, facing the far wall. More people were here too, people from Beacon, my friends. Their faces were full of hopeful relief at finding me alive. Seeing me though soon wiped them clear and disbelief replaced the hope, watching as a skeleton of what was once Skye being brought out. Andy made to lay me on the table but seeing its restraints and remembering the torture that was associated with it I screamed, holding onto her neck.

"No! No! Not the table! No more, please! Just kill me! Just kill me!"

"Shhhhh, shhhhh! It's okay Skye. We won't put you on the table," her tone growing more deathly with every word. She took a second, staring at the scars on my wrists in disbelief.

A gurney appeared, brought by one of the other Hunters, which Andy gentle laid me on. She then turned on the kneeling prisoners, yanking forward a bloodied Kane. Just seeing him made me want to run, I would've rolled off the gurney there and then and desperately tried to crawl away.

"Take it off her," Andy growled.

"Oh Andy, don't you remember me its-," Andy's fist connected with Kane's jaw, cutting him off. What threw me off even more was that it was Andy, not C-ydna doing that.

"You faunus bitch!" Kane shouted. "You can go back to the shit of a father, no wait, that's right he sold y-."

Kane flew back into the wall with a satisfying crunch, crumpling on the ground. The sudden violence shocked the Hunters and Huntresses that were in the room with us. It was extremely unlike Andy to be this quick to anger and to result to fighting. Then again they didn't know, they didn't know what happened to us here, what they did to us. Andy moved onto the next surviving assistant in line and picked him up by the scruff of his hair.

"Take it off her," she growled once again.

He frightfully nodded, practically sprinting over to me when he was free of Andy's grasp. I tried to shy away, Kane's assistants weren't as sadistic as he was but they had dealt their share of pain on me. His eyes glanced up nervously as the people around him before placing his hands on the collar, the mere brush of his hands making me fight viciously.

Basher's howl blasted the room, immobilizing everyone in place. Andy's gauntleted hand closed on the assistant's neck.

"Try something, and you will not like what happens next," she said.

Severely frightened, the man began to fiddle around with the steel collar. His hands wouldn't stop shaking and they had to calm me so I would stay still. A few minutes later he stopped, hands hovering over my neck.

"There's a failsafe. If I remove it now it'll inject her with the remaining semblance suppressant it has in storage," he muttered.

"Semblance suppressant?" Andy growled, making the man squeak. "I told you to get the thing off her."

"The failsafe will kill her…"

Andy reached inside one of her pouches and grabbed out some familiar marbles.

"Just do it."

He stared for a moment before returning to work on my collar. In an instant I felt the injections sink into my neck like teeth, stabbing deeper than they've ever gone before. The man flew aside as Andy stepped in front of me, grabbing opposite sides of my collar with her gauntlets. With a ferocious yell she tore it apart, crushing the pieces that she had made in her hands.

"Skye eat this," she said, quickly holding me with a marble of my semblance in front of me. "Skye hurry!"

Even with that last massive injection my mind felt clearer, maybe it was the weight of the collar being finally removed from my neck. I saw Andy and smiled, she looked so beautiful in the sunlight that crept through the windows.

"Skye!" she cried, shoving the capsule into my mouth.

As I bit down the store of power inside exploded outward. The effects were instant, this marble pill holding a significant amount of my semblance. Every wound and broken bone I had faded away, leaving me with a resupply of energy as well. Even then my semblance had its limits. I was still malnourished, dehydrated, and almost nothing but skin and bone. The implant remained in my brain and my mind was a wreck. I could feel the after effects of the suppressant wearing down my system but it was a great deal easier to focus my thoughts.

"Andy," I whispered, "you found me. What took you so long?" I managed to joke.

She threw herself at me, wrapping me in her arms as she cried uncontrollably. I think she tried to speak but couldn't muster up any coherent words. I was still too weak to hug her back so I sat there on the gurney, happy to be back in her arms.

With my mind back and my grasp on reality much firmer though it brought back the onslaught of my flashbacks, sparked by simply being back in the facility. I had one severe shake before I forced myself to be calm, I had one last thing to do.

"Andy, where are my leg braces?" I asked.

"Huh?" she stepped back, drying her face. "We have them outside. It looks like they tampered with them."

"That's fine," I said, mustering up the courage to literally throw my feet of the gurney.

"What are you doing?!" she gasped, as I used her shoulder for support.

Giving her a sly grin I called upon my semblance. It was like euphoria, finding the power inside me and being able to touch it again. The feeling was like seeing the sun when they first brought me into the control room, the first time in months that I could see the outside world. Taking hold of my semblance I weaved and weaved it until they were thousands of fine strings. I heard the audience around me take an astonished breath as the strings flowed from the tips of my fingers. They wisped in the slight breeze but then latched onto my legs, braiding themselves in wraps until the last lengths cinched around my waist. Andy watched solemnly, the only person who knew about my other powers, as I stood on my own feet without my leg braces. This wasn't me healing my legs, it was a mere temporary trick. By filtering my thoughts through the strings of semblance I had wrapped around them I could use them exactly like my leg braces. It was like being a marionette.

I walked over to Kane who had gotten back to his feet. His face was pure astonishment. It was only one of the expressions that thrilled me to see, now to turn that something more satisfying.

"How… How can you walk?" he muttered.

"Three months… Three months of experiments and you haven't found out a thing. Probably too much time spent testing my physical and mental limits," I said.

"That's impossible."

"Yes, but that's what semblances are, the impossible. You and this place gave me my legs back, it was me who learned to walk again."

And now it was for my other technique, the one that put shame upon my pride of being a healer.

Placing my hand on his neck I locked gazes with him. He laughed, probably thinking that I was going to try and strangle him but no, what I was about to do was much worse. I was a healer, a semblance and Huntress of purity. Yet everything has its opposite and as I trained with it more and more I discovered a pinprick of black energy amongst the white. I called upon that now, feeling its greed, its thirst and appetite, and its insatiable hunger. Its black hole pulled with a million hands, grabbing like a poor mob at… Kane's life. Yes, I thought, watching his eyes grow daunt with the inexplicable draining of his very own energy, I can give life but I can also take its very essence away. When his strength was all but gone I released him, letting him fall to the floor like a dead leaf.

"Wh-wh-what…" he barely could mutter.

"You tortured me to within an inch of my life. I leave you within an inch of your own," I said, turning and walking outside.

* * *

The sunshine was blinding yet warm as it touched my skin. My arm barely shaded my eyes as I raised its bony form over my face. Out here the air was fresh, clear, unfiltered by the facility's air ducts. It rolled through the clumps of my hair, stuck together by dirt and grime, fanning it like a cap behind me. I was so weak I swayed with its suggestion, quickly losing my feet. Andy was there immediately to catch me, shouting for the gurney again. Normally I would've been able to use the 'puppet strings', as I called them, of my semblance to use my legs for at least a day. That should've been double since I had disgustingly drained the life force from Kane. Nevertheless I was a stone throw's distance from breaking apart physically, a shattered mess mentally.

As Andy laid me on the gurney I noticed the swarm of Beacon personnel amidst the scenic world around me. Military airships buzzed in the air, Hunters and Huntresses milled about while a select number formed a literal shield of bodies around me. Sirens and lights flashed and blared from the nearby vehicles. It was an impressive show of force and a ludicrous amount of logistics involved.

One familiarly shaped cloud of white shrilled a warning caw as it descended from the formation of airship circling overhead. She cleared a landing area with powerful beats of her wings, making people scatter away. Before landing she shot a dozen deathly feathers at the facility in anger. Spira stalked over to where we were, her wings quivering and half unfurled waiting to unleash her rage. She was unable to keep her dignified composure as she joined us, seeming anxious to see me. Her black beak and bullet shaped head nuzzled against my side, those giant blue eyes crying when they studied me. You'd think she was the owner and I was the pet by how she treated me like a chick. I swear if Grimm had tears Basher and Spira would be drowning us in them.

"She's missed you," said Andy, "they both have. They haven't slept, barely have ate, and have been searching for you nonstop."

Getting over my initial terror brought on by the nagging thoughts that this was still all a trick by Kane, I gave Spira a good pet. She felt real enough and wouldn't stop cawing, turning her head left and right so she could see me with each of her eyes. Basher cautiously came over, nuzzling Andy out of the way so he could add in his sobbing barks as his wet nose sniffed and rubbed against my side. Their loving touch after so many days of being eviscerated by Grimm was terrifyingly soothing.

"I've missed you too," I said quietly, my voice failing me. "I've missed you the most though," I reached out with my hand towards Andy.

Clasping my hand in both of hers, she brought it to her chest, letting me feel the beat of her heart. Now in the sunlight and free of the drug's chains I could finally see how ragged Andy herself looked. When I first saw her in the sim room she appeared tired but that was a devastating understatement to how my clear conscious soaked in her exhaustion. She obviously was exhausted and hadn't slept in gods know how long. The dark bags and empty stare of her eyes gave her face a skeletal sort of gauntness. They were severely lacking in the spark of her spirit, always darting around unable to focus for too long on one thing. Her hair was a step away from the putrid mop atop my head. Those gentle hands were like her eyes, quivering from a familiar lack of sleep. Andy was in essence a zombie, a body on autopilot.

"Andy are you… okay?" I muttered.

"Don't worry about me…" she shrugged off my questioning gaze.

Seeing the chain dangling around her neck with the ring hanging from it I remembered the things that I had said, and failed to say.

"Andy I need to… need to…" I struggled to form the words as my body began to shake.

The spots on my neck where the injectors would pierce suddenly felt warm and extremely itchy. Yet contrasting the heat my body curled up, shivering against the onset of a cold sweat. Scratching my neck viciously I felt the world begin to lose focus and a sudden craving pull at my mind. What was this? My semblance should've healed me but yet I was feeling very sick. I wanted… I wanted… the injections… I wanted them back, needed them back, it was like a hunger that couldn't be satisfied.

I recognized slowly the symptoms similar to when I was recovering from my abstinence with alcohol. It was an addiction to the suppressant. The drug was addictive.

"Skye? Skye what's wrong?" Andy exclaimed, grabbing my wrists to stop me from scratching my neck raw.

"I need the drug. Give me the drug! I can't… I need it! Please!" I begged, fighting her grasp.

"The drug? No, Skye there's no more drug. We're not going to inject you anymore," she tried to reassure me.

I took her wrist with my bony fingers, glaring up into her eyes.

"No!" I shouted, causing everyone nearby to jump. "I want it! I want it! Give it back to me! I can't go without it!"

And then my eyes focused on the facility behind Andy and the nightmare blotted out the wondrous light of the free world. I screamed, my deepest fears awoken by the mere sight of the place. Every flashback and terror that had been repressed from the last three months came swarming about me at once, battering my senses. I tried to shut my eyes and cover my ears from their voices, shouts, their calls for attention. New projections tormented me, conceived from the recent torture I had been subjected to. It all made me crave the drug even more.

"Skye…" Andy turned to one of the other healers nearby, "What's going on?"

The healer studied me, checking my pulse and shining a bright light into my eyes, invoking more of my shrieks.

"It might be… the suppressant. She has the signs of an addict. That drug must've been highly addictive. With how she's had it injected for the past months she's in withdrawal," she replied.

Andy knew how addictive my personality was, especially with my endeavors to drink myself to death. Her aura took on a more murderous hue as she recognized my symptoms.

"Is there anything you can do?" she asked.

"No, not now or here. We'd have to study the drug and that would take a while. We could… try to ween her off it."

"You mean give her the drug again?!" Andy said aghast.

"Yes! Please yes! Just a little! I just need some to take off the edge!" I yelled deliriously.

"No," Andy muttered solemnly, knowing the torment that I was going through. "We can't give it to her."

"NO! PLEASE!" my shouts interjected.

As they nodded to Andy and started to move me to a nearby airship I grabbed her hand, pulling her down close to me.

"Andy… Andy…" I whimpered, straining to fight the ghosts of my past.

She bent down, putting her ear next to my mouth.

"Yes my little bird?" the softness of her voice giving me a moment of clarity and respite from the pain.

"Kill them… Kill them all… Don't let them… I can't go on if I know they're… Don't let them leave… live… Kill them…"

Andy pulled back, staring at me with resolved and cold eyes. She wasn't repulsed by my words one bit, like she normally would be. My fox was opposed to violence, C-ydna was plain evidence of that, he fighting and she staying in the recesses of her mind. Her determined face was proof of how much my internment had changed her.

"Okay my love," was all she said before walking away back to the facility.

* * *

Throughout the whole airship flight back I was chained in my own internal iron maiden. The walking terrors would come and go at their own pleasure. That mixed in with the addiction to Kane's drug blinded my senses with unimaginable agony. Every gust of wind that swept through the cabin felt like a million flies with talons lancing my skin. Ants felt like they were crawling behind my eyes, out of my ears and mouth, crawling over my face and neck. It made me fight against whoever tried to help me, Andy included. When they finally brought out the syringe I was a crazed hysteric, almost causing them to stab themselves. As they injected me I was furious but calmed by the sedative, not the suppressant.

I lulled in and out of the trip, brawling about the cabin when I could, holding onto Andy whenever else. They had to dose me again midflight, I was being reckless and endangering the crew. The second shot put me into a half sleep. When I awoke they had landed inside of Vale, taking me in a gurney to a large white building I recognized as Vale General Hospital. Instantly my fear of hospitals and doctors, mainly their lab coats, made me latch onto Andy who was thankfully nearby.

"No! No! Don't take me in there! Please don't take me in there! No more tests! No more torture! Just take me home! Please take me home!" I pulled on Andy's sleeve.

She stopped the gurney, glancing worriedly at one of the other semblance healers.

"Can I just take her home? She doesn't do well in hospitals," Andy tried to explain.

"No, we can't," the healer replied.

"But she's a healer too, she already healed herself. I can look after her fine back at our home," Andy reasoned, her tone threatening. She had become so quick to anger in the three months I had been gone, violence was always her last restort.

"Normally," the Huntresses opposite her started, taking a step back, "that would be fine. With Skye's severe malnourishment and dehydration plus this… drug's effects, we really need to do a proper checkup and observe her."

At Andy's silence she also added, "Andy, I've seen her semblance at work before. Its healing abilities are miraculous to be sure, but it can't replace what's been lost. Her weight, the nutrients, not to mention that… other ability."

"Don't," uttered Andy, giving her a deathly glare. "Never speak of that ability. To anyone," making her nod.

Andy's eyes were full of regret as they pushed me over to the awaiting doctors. More white coats, more needles, more bright lights and beeping machines. All of it was a brutal assault onto my mind. It made me cower in the cot they had put me in, retreating into the deepest recesses of my mind that I could. I remember calling out to Andy amongst the storm of events, she always coming to my side.

It was a week before they finally released me from the hospital. They had sedated me heavily to begin with but the doctors insisted that they had to ween me off the drugs. The added chemicals in my system weren't mixing well with my withdrawal and they wanted to have me cleansed. It was like a second layer of hell, the doctors constantly watching me, the daily visits by my nightmares, the many debriefs by Beacon officials, but the worst were they psychiatrists who picked apart my brain and tried to 'help' me regain my sanity… whenever I wasn't screaming about the boogey-man.

Since I hadn't the time nor the mind I couldn't repair the tinkering done to my leg braces. Andy pushed me on the walkway to our front door, giving a small heave to get me up the stairs on the front porch.

"You know," she gave one last grunt up the last step, "we should have built a ramp for you, even though you're much lighter now."

The week back I constantly had an IV of fluids stuck in my arm in addition to a very controlled diet. They couldn't feed me too much or else my digestive system would've gone into shock from the sudden increase of food intake. So I had regain a little of my weight, almost none of my strength at least I wasn't a stick thin skeleton any more.

She opened the door for me and tried to push me again but I didn't let her, taking the wheels in my own hands. Scowling at me she closed the front door. I may be a step away from losing my sanity but while I was still sane I was still stubborn, not liking to rely on others. It also irritated me that they didn't let me work on my braces while I was at the hospital. Andy had said she brought them home for me.

As I saw the disarray of our home though, fixing my legs became a faraway thought. Our home was a wreck. The furniture was overturned and misplaced, even broken from being thrown across the room. There was a layer of dust over everything that hadn't been touched or used, giving everything a grimy feel. Half eaten meals littered the table and counter and even some of the corners of the room, all of them fast food to go boxes. Empty wine bottles, and what looked like some of my bottles of liquor, laid on their sides. What was most disturbing were the walls. Almost every single one was covered in pictures and notes, strings of yarn connecting them. It was like Andy was living as close as should could get to my conditions except her torture was trying to find me, the near insanity and obsession tacked to the walls. I began to question who was actually insane here and wondered what sort of hell did Andy put herself through.

"Are you hungry Skye?" she asked, scurrying to the kitchen and clearing away the stacks of Styrofoam boxes like they weren't weird.

"Uh, yeah but wait, I mean, Andy. Fox," I caught her attention, rolling over beside her.

I gasped, reaching out to take her hands and stop what she was doing. She was washing her hands with a steel bristle brush, scratching deep into her skin, the blood coloring the water pink.

"Andy what are you doing?!" I pulled her hands down to my level to get a better look of the damage. "Are you okay? No, no, where is our kit of semblance pill?"  
"Huh, what are you…" her voice trailed off as she finally noticed her hands. "Oh… Oh it was an accident my bird, I'm okay."

"No, you're not," I said as sternly as I could, rummaging through the cupboards until I found one of our first aid kits.

Tearing it open I took out two of the glowing marbles, breaking one on each of the top of her hands. The white wisps of my semblance washed over them, stopping the bleeding in an instant, pulling the sliced open skin back together and nurturing them into a new and untarnished layer. I knew that they would be perfectly healed but even then I examined each of her hands.

She snatched her hands away, "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did!" I yelled at her. "Andy listen, listen to me," I said, holding her face in my hands so she'd look at me. "When is the last time you slept?"

Andy tried to turn away, do something with the kitchen but I held her face, forcing her to look back at me. "When?"

"I… don't remember," she said. "I don't need to. I had to look for you… I had to keep searching… I had to find you…"

"It was the nightmares wasn't it?" I said, hanging my head low and trying to stop the tears. "You couldn't sleep because of the nightmares."

"I wonder whose fault that wassssss," C-ydna hissed, using Andy's hands to put my neck in a vice.

"C-yd…. na…" I gasped, trying to pry off Andy's fingers without success.

"Yesssss, it's me cripple! C-ydna! C-YDNA! C-ydna, the only one who was with Andy! The only one that protected her, watched her for months!" he yelled, his usual laughs missing. He was seriously pissed and not toying around.

My heart began to race, desperately trying to pump more oxygen to my brain when there was none. The lack of air made my vision blur and darken, made my grip weak. It was then the panic began to set in. This was something I knew, a torture I knew, one that I had relived again and again during my internment. They made Andy attack me multiple times, they made C-ydna beat me for sheer amusement. I had to fight back.

But I couldn't. Despite the panic attack, the flashback that was wrecking my mind, I knew that this was the real Andy. I couldn't hurt her as much as instinct beckoned me to.

"I'm… sorry…" I wheezed with what little air I had left.

"You think I fucking care?!" his/her grip tightened briefly but then let off. I could already see Andy begin to return. "You can't die, not unless I kill you myself," C-ydna taunted before leaving. It was strange, it sounded like it was his version of a 'welcome home.'

With that Andy collapsed against me, half falling into my lap.

"What… what happened?" she muttered, pushing off of me slightly and looking around.

"Me and C-ydna had a little chat," I said, resting a hand on her collar.

"C-ydna?!" she exclaimed, "Are you okay? Did he do anything?"

"I'm fine," I lied, pulling her close to me.

As she checked over me I did some fiddling with my semblance. Controlling it like extra fingers I put a sleeping spell over her. In seconds her words became mumbles and mumbles became a silent Andy sleeping, probably for the first time in weeks, on my shoulder. I held her tight with one hand, tucking her tail safely in her lap with the other. Like every time before the sudden rush of weariness washed over me.

I chuckled, reliving the memories from the facility and when I had carted a much younger Andy around. Doing the same I maneuvered around the mess, gently pushing the door open to our bedroom. It was as bad as the rest of the house but what made it creepy was the stalker fashion that my face was plastered all along the walls. Outside was a search for where I was, in there was almost like a shrine! Albeit every facet of my personality and character that Andy could think of was written on notes everywhere. Deciding not to sleep in there, mainly because of the mess but also because I don't think I could've fallen asleep staring at myself no matter where I turned, I pushed us out the back door.

Night's cloak had already covered the sky and only the faint moon and lights left on inside the house illuminated the landscape. Basher and Spira were sleeping, a rare thing for them to do. Sometimes they napped, sometimes they faked napping, and at other times they didn't need to sleep at all.

I sighed, "Guess I've got no choice, even though I used my semblance already."

The shadows were soon basked in white as I spun my 'puppet strings' out from my fingers and weaved them over my legs. I stood from my wheelchair, holding Andy tightly to my chest. My arms whined in the strain from all the weight although I could tell now that I wasn't the only one who was quite thin. Spira's left wing lifted slightly off the ground, her head sliding from beneath to glance at me questioningly.

"Hey Spira," I whispered, nuzzling my head against hers since my hands were full. "Can we sleep with you tonight?"

Her eyelid flicked once over the giant blue orb before she stretched out her wing, creating a natural tent of feathers. I nodded to her gratefully, taking Andy and me inside and placing her against Spira's side. Inside the air was calm, shielded against the night's gust, and was slowly warming as she increased her body heat for us, another of their abilities. Blue light flooded the interior momentarily as she tucked her head under her wing with us, resting in back on the ground next to her body. There was a sleepy growl and the sound of something very heavy crawling across the ground lazily. Bash, sensing all of us, had moseyed his way under the edge of Spira's wing, using his back as another support for our feathery tent. Spira didn't seem to mind, Bash crawling up until he could place both his paws over our legs as a protective blanket.

"Thanks Basher," I said, giving his snout a good scratch.

He half yawned and half growled, resting his chin on his legs, his breath rolling up my lap.

"Bash, your breath tickles," I murmured, making him growl again.

His breathing slowed until his body laid completely still, failing to rise and fall like it normally would. No more air entered or exited his nostrils and if it wasn't for my past experiences with him and Spira I would've thought them both dead. Things like this always made me question their existence, not so much if they were here or not but rather if they were alive. Maybe in their Grimm perspective they had a different view of life because although they were often full of it, times like these they seemed to not have any indication of being alive. It was like they needed nothing to live, not air, not warmth, not food. I envied them sometimes.

I looped my hand around Andy, pulling her close into the protective cove of my body. We both had gone through a crucible and I was foolish to think that we'd both come out unscathed from all of this. She was as battered as I was and it was clear we both needed to heal. Her tail twitched around and I wrapped it around her, tucking it was safe. I rested my cheek against her ears, letting my mind drift to sleep.

* * *

We slept well into the afternoon, the sun beating on Spira's feathers made the interior warm was the only discomfort. I sat up, dragging myself against Spira's side. She was already awake but silently had kept watch over us. Raising my hand I tried to pet her but came short, trapped by my limp legs and Basher's gigantic paw on my lap. She closed her eyes and obliged, moving the extra foot to allow me to pet her beak.

"We've got a long road ahead of us," I murmured, looking over my family.

In response, Spira touched her beak to my chest right over my heart, reading my mind.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, winding the puppet strings once again.

I went back into the house, after leaving Andy wrapped in Basher's paws. Her sleeping spell would last for a while longer, giving me some time to do the task at hand. Standing inside the pigsty that was our home I stretched my legs out. They felt light without the extra metal clamped around them, giving me support. The ability to use my semblance like this, granting me my legs again was an insult to me. It wasn't that my legs were actually healed, they were simply in another form of the leg braces I wore. I could never heal my legs, no matter how much I learned or how much I improved. Eventually I would tire out and have to release the strings from my legs and being bound to my wheelchair once again. All that this technique did was tease me, taunt me with a glimpse of freedom until reality came back. I hated using it as much as I hated knowing about the life draining technique.

Sighing I tip-toed through the mess into the bedroom, finding my leg braces standing in a corner beside the Coffin. Both were in one piece but the braces had been tampered with by Kane. It didn't seem like he was trying to learn anything from it, more like he was pretending to be a monkey with a ratchet, destroying as much of its sophisticated machinery as he could. Letting out a more aggravated sigh I left it alone, it would take at least a week to fix.

Gratefully I got to the task at hand. By the time that Andy had awoke I had righted the furniture to their old spots and cleaned the trash and clutter left on the floors. Using an abysmal amount of paper towels and cleaner, I had fought off most of the dust and grim that had accumulated on the surfaces while organizing the miscellaneous items scattered about. Half of the walls were clear of Andy's notes and pictures when I heard her shriek from the backyard. Before I could even get to the door she came barreling through it.

"Skye?!" she screamed, her head bolting around the room until she found me. Launching herself at me I caught her unsteadily, backing into the kitchen counter for support. "Where were you?! I thought you had been taken again!"

"Easy fox, easy," I chuckled, petting her tense tail until it unwound. "Don't get your tail caught in the door. I was letting you sleep in, you needed it."

"I don't need to sleep!" she retorted. "You just got back and I have to look after you and make sure-."

"You needed to sleep," I said as commandingly but soothingly as possible.

"But I," she began but I cut her off again.

"Come on," I said, pulling her by the tail to the bathroom, "you need to shower."

Andy was about to argue but I shot her a rare look that made her ears droop. We stepped inside the newly cleaned bathroom and I helped her strip off her clothes. She was wearing the same combat outfit that she was when she had rescued me and it was considerably dirty… and smelly.

"When's the last time you showered fox?" I asked, smiling as her ears flicked from having her shirt pulled over her head.

"I don't remember. Never had the time," he eyes trailed off with an ounce of pain, remembering.

"Don't worry, I'm here now for you," I murmured in her ear. It felt odd that I was being the supportive one despite of the recent events. But it was like I thought last night, we would both have to help each other heal.

Despite almost 24 hours straight of sleep Andy was half on autopilot. She let me wash her but always kept her eyes on me or touched me in same way, like I was going to vanish in the next second. As we both helped each other dry ourselves I realized that we were both broken in different ways. I had been imprisoned and snapped by pain, she was locked in her own exhaustion. We both needed time.

"Skye! You can walk! Where are your leg braces?" she suddenly exclaimed as we walked back into the living room.

"Huh, oh, like you said they're still broken. I'm using the 'strings' for the time being," I told her, extending a leg out so that the wispy strings of my semblance could be made out in the light. "Oh and don't you give me that," I said seeing her expression, "I'll be fine for a day anyways, you've been here all by yourself… all alone… so I want to help out like normal. Oh and you were living like a pig, not like a fox."

She gave me a rueful look, "Okay but let me make breakfast."

"No, I'm cooking."

"No you are not."

"Are you my Oka-san?"

"I am when you want to act like a child."

"Says the one who's been eating take out and fast food!"

"I, well, that, hmpf! At least… you finally lost some weight! You were getting fat!"

"Hey! What! Come on, that was muscle!"

"You always burn everything anyways!"

"And you always eat the food before we can serve it, especially when we go to buffet!"

We stood glaring at each other, both our faces reddened but the yelling and pangs of teasing striking a cord. Then we burst in laughter, genuinely smiling together for the first time. Without even trying we had slipped back into an old habit of giving each other shit.

"I'm cooking," I said softly, petting Andy's ear.

Her purr turned into a growl and she caught my hand, "I'm helping." That was that.

It was like any other morning. We had slept in, panicked when the other was mysteriously gone, argued over the littlest of things, and helped each other with breakfast. Minus the zombie-fied Andy, my mentally brittle and skeleton self, the fleeting signs of mess around the house, and lack of fresh and a stocked fridge… yeah it was pretty normal. That was of course until the itching started.

At first it was a mere annoyance, like a fly that kept buzzing around me and biting my skin. Then sweat beaded on my forehead and skin, making the damp clothes I wore stick to my skin. The shivers and physical efforts I made to stop scratching only made it more noticeable. As I was setting the table I dropped a plate, the crash echoing throughout the kitchen. Andy rushed over as I held myself up on the table.

"No, I'm… fine," I said, trying to push her away.

"Is it another flashback?" she said, holding me up.

"No, it's…" I paused before shoving past her for one of the cupboards.

Andy was quick to grab me but not before I had taken one of my bottles of liquor from the inside. She grabbed my wrist from behind me, preventing me from unscrewing the cap.

"Skye no! Put it down!" she cried into my ear.

"I… need… it…" I shrilled.

"You don't! It's okay, I'm here, I can help you through the flashback! Kane can't hurt you anymore!" she told me, managing to wretch the bottle from my hands.

"It's not a flashback!" I screamed, causing her to hold the bottle to her chest frightfully. "It's… it's… the injections, the drug… I need it…" I crumpled onto the ground.

I noticed her body stiffen as I stumbled about, searching for something that wasn't there. My mind yearned for something, anything to dull the ache and satisfy the thirst. Imaginary flies crawled over my roasting skin, draining me of fluids. Everything inside my head screamed for the suppressant, its twisted sense of reasoning telling me that it would solve everything. The side of my neck burned like a brand and yearned for the familiar sensation of a needle piercing the thin skin. Going cold turkey for a week hadn't helped at all.

Scrambling past her I heard the bottle shatter as it hit the floor. Inside our bedroom I tore out drawers until I found our old first aid kit, racing to find the syringe amongst the white packages. Andy tackled me before I could get it out of its wrapper and stick it into my neck, fighting to control my arms. And then the flashbacks came and I screamed.

"Now…" I muttered, mentally thrown back into the sim room, "I am having a flashback."

Back inside the facility sim room Andy was fighting me. She was weaker than normal but despite that she was in control. I kept expecting my collar to inject me, it was about that time but nothing was happening. Actually the collar wasn't even clamped around my neck anymore. Something kept telling me that if I could get another dose this would all disappear. Ropes and restraints had appeared in Andy's hands now.

Andy took the moment then to kiss me, waking me up… to her tying the ropes around my wrists. Not exactly the way to wake up from a mental attack of the exact same thing.

"No! Not the ropes! Not the cuffs! Please don't torture me!" I wailed.

"It's to keep you safe!" Andy said amongst her tears.

"That's what Kane said!" I shouted back, making her freeze.

Our eyes locked, her teary with sorrow and mine wide in terror. This was the only way to keep us both safe when I got violent, we both knew it. It was more for Andy's sake because often I couldn't tell friend from foe, especially now that months of torture had made friend _into_ foe. But to use them would mean that it would be exactly like my torture.

Andy slowly undid the knots that she had started and tossed the rope onto the bed. She braved my uncontrollable flailing, taking hits that pained my heart as she curled up with me on the floor, holding me against her chest. I fought wildly against her, trying to scratch my arms and neck like the starved addict I was. Nothing helped quell the fever like symptoms I was experiencing.

Suddenly I felt teeth sink into my neck, hard. Andy had taken a page out of my book but it had worked. Her teeth against my skin felt close enough to the injector and calmed my nerves, the placebo working to appease my mind. It would've been incredibly sensual if I wasn't so out of my mind.

"Thank y-," I froze mid-sentence. When things couldn't get any worse they did.

My memories started to fade.

"Andy," I said hurriedly, grabbing hold of her hands and fighting off the dwindling panic attack. "Look, listen to me. At the facility, they told me something. My head, my mind, the implant is still there. They said that my memor… they said… they…"

The thoughts in my head didn't make sense. It was like they had a coherent point that I wanted to tell… someone but I had forgotten where they began. Soon they disappeared altogether and all I could put together was that there was someone that needed to know something. It hurt my brain remembering something that wasn't there.

"Skye?" a questioning voice said, making me look up. Her ears and tail shocked me and I flung myself away from her.

"Who… are you?" I said, instantly freezing her in place. She rose a hand shakily towards me which I shied away from.

Her face looked shocked for a moment but then resolved itself into a forced calm, like she was familiar with this situation.

"Skye, that's your name. I'm Andy. We live here, in this house together," her voice had a practiced smoothness to it.

"I… oh, really?"

"Skye, what's the last thing you remember?" she asked, inching closer to me. Her eyes stared at me weirdly, they didn't match her calm face.

"The last thing…" I said to myself. "Uh… flying. The last thing I remember, was flying through the air. I was… home? There were sirens… people running around from… a Grimm?"

Then something spectacular happened. There was an explosion of warmth from inside me. It was like there were strings attached to my heart that were all vibrating with heat. White strings unwound themselves from my legs and I shriek in surprise. They spun backwards from how they were wrapped, fanning out like a skirt from my waist. They drifted in the air for a few seconds before they faded into nothing.

I tried to get up but something was wrong. My legs wouldn't move. In fact I couldn't feel them at all. It soon dawned on me that I could use them. I screamed, panicked, not understanding why my oddly long legs wouldn't work.

"I can't walk! I can't walk! What's wrong with my legs?! What's going?!"

The other girl called Andy just stared in disbelief.

* * *

Andy and I sat in the office of one of the doctors at Vale General Hospital. Once she had calmed me down and I had regained my memories she brought me immediately here to get a scan of my brain. She had thought all the spouts of amnesia were gone since I had healed myself years before. I had forgotten to tell her that although I had fixed my memory, Kane's implant had remained attached to my brain and that he also reactivated it during my internment.

Her hand rested on my shoulder since I was in my wheelchair. I grasped her hand within mine while the doctor keyed a 3D hologram of my brain. She was actually the same doctor who had done my physical exam during the combat tests to get into Beacon.

"It's good to see you again Margret," I tried to be casual.

"It's good to see you as well Skye, Andy," she nodded to us both. "Although I wish it had been under better circumstances. I heard about what happened to you. I can't imagine what you went through in Atlas. What happened to your leg braces if you don't mind me asking?"

"They're broken, for the moment," I said.

Andy's tail was swishing about anxiously, it gave away her emotions easily.

"So what is wrong with Skye?" she asked.

"Well," Margret began, "as you can see from the scan there's a device that is implanted in Skye's brain, specifically in the region that controls and store her memories."

The floating image of my brain spun around and enlarged. On the front of my brain, through the transparent bone of my skull, was a spider like device. Its tendrils looked malicious, attached to the wrinkly surface beneath it.

"Look fox, I do have a brain," I joked.

"If only you'd use it more," she muttered, whacking me in the face with her tail. "So what does it do besides make Skye lose her memories?"

"Well, I don't know," Margret said.

"What do you mean?" Andy's voice taking an edge to it.

"The technology in this device is beyond me and my colleagues to be frank. Its Atlas made certainly but as to its capabilities I'm at a loss. Do you see its tendrils?"

"The ones that look like spider claws?" I jibed.

"Yes, those. They pierce the outer layers of your brain and connect somehow to your memory center. From our tests we can tell that they emit some sort of energy possibly electric but as to what it does I cannot say. Our scans show nothing of the inside of the device nor why or what the impulses it send through its arms do," she explained.

"How do we get it out?" Andy cut to the chase, her hand squeezing mine rather tight.

"We can't, not with our technology in Vale," Margret said softly.

"What?" Andy growled, seeing C-ydna at the edge of her mind.

Quickly I grabbed her tail and held it to my chest, petting it gently to divert her attention… and also calm her down.

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming," I said.

Margaret gave us both a cautious look before saying, "We may not be able to remove it here in Vale but… in Atlas it may be possible."

Andy and I both froze, staring at one another.

"I'll stick with the memory loss," I said, trying to turn my wheelchair around to leave.

"No, Skye we should go to Atlas."

"No way I'm going back there."

"But if there's a chance we should at least try!"

"You can go, I'll stay home and look after the Grimm."

"You're going to come with me even if I have to tie you up myself!"

"Oh straight to that already eh fox?"

"Ahem," Margret politely coughed.

We both stopped, me trying to push myself out the door and Andy blocking the way. Margret was smiling, twirling her pen around her fingers.

"I would have to side with Andy on this one," she said, "I've already called the doctors in Atlas and they're incredible willing to take a look at you. They want to try and help you and also redeem some of the Atlas' medical and technological society's pride."

"I'm sorry doc but docs are docs and I can barely stand being in hospitals let alone one in Atlas. I never want to go back to that place."

"Here," Andy said shoving her scroll against my ear and forcing me to hold onto it.

"Andy what the hell are you-."

"Nee-chan?"

 _Fuck me._

"Nee-chan? Are you there? Andy said that you were coming to Atlas, coming home. Is that true?" Robin's voice flooded through the scroll's speaker.

I turned to Andy, speechless. My throat shook, trying to usher out something to say. I was furious that Andy blackmailed me, I was overjoyed hearing my little sister's voice again, and I was afraid.

"Robin," I muttered, grasping Andy's scroll with white knuckles.

"Nee-chan! So when are you coming home? There's so much to show you! Oh the tattoo is completely healed now, it looks awesome. Oh and there's some people at school… uhm you know that I kind of… like. I mean you know, hehe. It's actually been a long time since you called. We haven't heard from you in forever. Is everything alright?" Robin said without taking a breath.

"Robin… I don't think I can come… uh…" I paused, beginning to shake in my chair.

"Huh?" her little voice said.

Andy stared at me, not in hate, not in disapproval, but with love. Kneeling down to my height she took my hand and rested it on her fox ear, putting her cheek into my lap and purring. I tried to hold back the tears, the pain and anguish of not going home, the terror of having to go back to the same place that haunted my dreams, but it all was too much.

"I…" I struggled to say without sobbing. "I'll be home soon Red. I'll call back soon."

"Yay! I can't wait to see you and tell you about everything that has happened!" Robin said with glee, almost breaking my heart.

"I'll talk to you later Red, stay out of trouble okay?"

"Okay Nee-chan. I'll see you soon," and with that I ended the call.

"Thank you Skye," Andy said, smiling with her eyes closed.

"I guess… I guess we're going home," I said, hugging her head and finally letting out the tears.


	6. Chapter 6

"I told you bringing the Grimm was a bad, bad idea!" I shouted against the wind, hanging out of the airship. "We should not have brought the Grimm!"

Basher was flailing about madly in the harness 30ft below the airship. His squeamish shrieks were piercing through the wind but his violent movements were shaking the ship and threatening to make us crash.

"I really don't want to go out in a fiery ball of metal and fuel as much as I love this airship, so Skye if you please?!" Marcy shouted from the cockpit.

Scowling I leaned out of the airship, Andy/C-ydna holding onto my belt while Ken was rapidly trying to secure a safety line onto me. Aiming my shotgun I struggled to keep it steady as the rocking of the ship, jet blast, and Basher's dumb shaking unsteadied me. I fired, the tranq round hitting him right in the neck. He tensed for a moment, letting one final terrorized squeal and then went limp. This was the third time this trip I had to shoot him.

As Ken and Andy/C-ydna pulled me back into the cabin of the ship I sunk into one of the seats, locking my shotgun in one of the weapon racks.

"Stupid cripple," C-ydna said, flexing Andy's arms, "should've just let you drop. Maybe hitting the ground hard enough will make you he he stop forgetting your sweet, sweet Andy."

"Thank you C-ydna, now kindly fuck off," I replied as he gave me the finger, letting Andy return.

She looked at me and then saw the finger she was holding up and quickly shot her hands behind her back.

"I told you, we should've left them at home! Bash at least, he could've guarded the house," I scowled at Andy.

"We couldn't leave them at home," she said, sitting down next to me, "Spira would be fine but you know how Basher gets. He'd be so sad and winds up destroying something."

I sighed, resting my head on her shoulder and leaning my body into hers. She wrapped her arms around me and let me bask in the comfort of her curves. Ken whistled and we both shot him a glance that sent him scurrying back into the cockpit.

"But transporting them would be the hassle that it already is. Three quarters of the way there and I've already had to shoot Bash three times. Then there's Atlas and my home… it'll be worse than Beacon, fending off people and trying to explain the situation to them. Home… they don't think fondly of Grimm Andy," I said.

"It's okay, they can handle themselves and I'm sure that everyone will warm up to them," Andy reassured me, petting my head.

I growled but yawned, "I'm so… tired."

"Rest my bird, save you energy okay?"

"Mmmmm…" I hummed, drifting into a half-sleep.

I spent the last hours of the trip in an uncomfortable waking dream, seeing repetitions of the facility, images of flying alongside Spira with wings that grew from my back, and reliving the accident that took away my legs. That dream was one I hadn't had for a while and unnerved me but I heard a soothing voice comfort me and arms tighten around me whenever the dreams got too harsh. We had to land at one of Atlas' border airship ports to check through customs and refuel the airship. Ken and Marcy were all too glad to volunteer to fly us, knowing our special circumstances with the Grimm but their ride wasn't exactly made for long distance runs. They needed to refuel often to ensure we could make the trip. The port authorities and landing crew were a majority of robots, typical of Atlas whose labor force consisted hugely of the technological advanced androids that they were fond of. We had to keep the stupid things from trying to put Bash in a cage, thinking he was some sort of cattle fare while dealing with the one human in charge. I left Ken hopelessly dealing with the paperwork in a frantic way with a very stoic Atlas official to join Marcy and Andy in the cockpit.

"Alrighty Skye," Marcy said, pulling up a holographic map from the navigation console, "you're the resident native of Atlas. Where are we headed?"

"Tcch," I scoffed, "I was only here as a kid and much of it was at… a place I'd rather not mention. Hell if we could stay as far away from that place as possible it would be great." I plopped my chin on Andy's head who gave a disapproving 'Hey!'

"Alright, alright, so what's the name of the place we're headed?"

"First… we're headed to my hometown. It's a small place in the north, nestled on the edge of the hills called Akribos," I said quietly.

The world felt unsteady and the deck felt like we were taking off even though outside the landing pad was still. I put a hand on the console to support myself, a weariness overcoming me.

"Skye," Andy said, put her hands on my waist in case I fell, "Are you feeling alright?"

I put my hand on hers, "Yeah just… the weight of old memories. Being back in Atlas makes me feel on edge, I keep thinking someone will try to attack me or worse kidnap you. Then there's this apprehension about going home. I'm nervous I think. Just thinking about it makes me feel nauseous. I don't… I don't want to go home."

"Don't worry my bird, you have me here and the Grimm too. We'll protect you. Remember your promise to Robin too. And come on, I always wanted to see your home," she said, pulling me away and helping me into a seat in the back.

"It's just… all I can remember about that place are bad memories. The Grimm attack, my accident, the way I felt so dependent on everyone else, it feels like I'm going back to prison. And… all those places might spark my seizures and the panic attacks, it feels like a minefield," I latched onto Andy, burying my face into her chest. "Please, I don't want to go back," I whispered finally, breaking down in face of my fears, "let's just go back home Andy. It'll be fine, I'm too weak and you are still recovering. We can go back and live like normal. The attacks will go away and-."

Andy cut off my ramblings by taking my face in both her hands, staring into my eyes with a steady resolve of love, kissing me gently.

"We're not leaving until you're fixed," she told me. "And I won't ever leave your side."

"Okay…" I hummed.

The flight to Akribos only took a couple hours and although I tried to rest I couldn't get to sleep. Every minute that went by felt like another pound on my shoulder, the tension building in my body, the apprehension so sharp that I thought it would cut into my muscles. Sooner than I thought though the old hills that told me I was in my hometown appeared on the horizon. A small blot at their foot of square lines that grew more defined and more in focus as we neared looked oh so familiar.

"Land on the outskirts, we'll walk in. The Grimm will likely make them sound the alarm," I told Marcy.

"But we called ahead to your family. They won't panic at seeing Spira and Basher," Andy said.

"Maybe, but you underestimate their apprehension and resentment of Grimm. Akribos is small as you can tell," I said as we began to descend. "Atlas is usually slow to send help when the town is in trouble since they're so far away. They've grown hesitant and wary against all sorts of Grimm. I suspect… that they also used my accident as a story to teach the kids," I said.

We landed a few hundred yard away from the edge of the most outer buildings. Akribos looked as it always had. The buildings were clustered together against the hills, rolling with the terrain. Despite being so crammed they were very organized and made use of space efficiently. Its layout and architecture were reminiscent of my Japanese ancestry, utilizing all the space without waste while having everything essential. It gave home a very close and homey feel since your neighbors were always nearby.

As I predicted, sirens blared within the town and the people that I could see began to scurry for the safety of their homes or shelters. I sighed, knowing what was coming.

Pulling out my wheelchair, I unfolded it and locked out the seat on the ground. I had been using the puppet strings to get around for most of the trip. Andy had objected but trying to move about in my wheelchair while in the confines of the airship was impossibly irritating. Sitting into my chair I released the weave around my legs, letting the expense of their use wash over me. I sat and watched as Ken and Marcy helped Bash out of the harness, he was drowsy but conscious, overly excited at the new surroundings. Spira landed with a gust of wind and after giving Bash the usual peck on the armor came over to guard me. She bent her head and stared at me, knowing the fear I kept within me and sensing what I felt.

"Spira, stay here and keep Bash out of town until I call. We've got to explain to the town officials about you two before you can come in. They're the usually anti-Grimm kind of feelings," I told her as Andy came to grip my wheelchair by its handles.

Spira gave an annoyed but understanding caw, ruffling her wings as if to say, " _What? They can't appreciate how magnificent I look?"_

With that I leaned my head back to see an upside down version of Andy, nodding to her. She tugged on my tendrils of hair gently, bending to give me an interesting kiss.

"Remember that I always love you no matter what happens and that I'm here for you," she said softly.

With that we walked… okay she pushed and I rolled across the uneven ground into town. At its outer most edge we were met by two town guards, holding a bit outdated rifles at us.

"St-stop!" said the younger one who was no older than 18. "State your business!"

"Don't shoot!" Andy called back. "There's no reason to be alarmed. We're Huntresses from Vale."

"Huntresses?" he said shocked.

"Yes, Beacon and Vale General Hospital should've informed you of our visit," she replied.

"Yeah so if you don't mind put the damn gun down!" I added, earning me a sharp knuckle to the ear. "Hey!"

The older guard stepped forward, putting a hand on the other's rifle so he lowered it. This man was quite older, sporting a full beard and graying hair. His eyes were a dying but deep blue.

"A Doctor Margret from Vale General?" he asked, his voice more friendly.

"Yes."

"No shit!" I got annoyed when people didn't trust us and also when they kept pointing guns at me.

"Skye!"

"What?"

"Shut up!"

"Skye?" the old man asked. "As in Skye Miriage, daughter of Kimiko and Alphonse?"

I giggled, my Da hated his name. "Yup, they're my parents. They also should've told you all that I was visiting… and hopefully not to shoot us," I added under my breath.

"If you're truly her then why did you bring Grimm here?" his voice turned cold and broke the last strand of my patience.

As I listed out every curse word I could think of and threw a tantrum in my chair, Andy walked over and explained the situation to him with my added, verbal, and very inappropriate comments. They eased off a bit and allowed me to call the two idiots who came in excitedly, much to the horror of those two. I had to grip the barrel of the younger guard's rifle to prevent him from raising it and shooting as Bash sniffed and did his fluffy act with them. After a while of Bash's theatrics they calmed enough to let us in, radioing back into town that it was a false alarm.

"Thank you," Andy said, pulling Basher away as he nuzzled her. "I am Andy, and you've already been introduced to Skye. We're the Grimm Riders."

"Ah sorry, I'm Markus," the older man said, scratching his beard as he slung his rifle, "this here is my son William. He's my apprentice and still learning so pardon the hostility. We're used to treating Grimm here very seriously."

"Skye has told me," Andy said warmly.

"Markus…" I thought aloud, "you wouldn't be the same Markus that was in the town guard over a decade ago? I thought you were younger."

"Haha," he rumbled, "time does that to a man. I am much more _experienced_ now as you are more grown. You're not that little Skye running around town causing trouble although you've still got your wheelchair."

The heat rose to my face as the old anger built but Andy pressed a firm hand to my shoulder.

"Oh she still causes trouble," she said.

"Nee-chan!" a bubbling little voice shouted, running down the street. She barreled into me with a hug and would've knocked me over if Andy hadn't caught my chair. "I've missed you and-… You look a lot thinner than last time and you have your wheelchair," she said, looking me over.

"Red, I'm not the only one here," I said, returning the hug and diverting the subject for later.

"Oh sorry, sorry. Hello Andy Nee-chan, Basher, Spira," she said.

"Hello Robin," Andy said giving her a casual wave.

The two Grimm however trudged over to surround Robin, treating her like their long lost chick, nuzzling her gently.

"Hahaha, that tickles!" she said, pushing both of their heads.

"See," I turned to Markus and William, "perfectly harmless. They're just one fluffy and one feathery pain in my ass."

Down the road I heard the quick patter of steps as my mother ran down the road. She was holding the excess of her kimono's skirt up, forced to take small strides while she ran. The old fashion sandals she wore made a reminiscent clapping on the pavement. It suddenly made me wonder if this was how she acted in her younger days.

"Robin! Skye! Andy!" she shouted as she ran up to us. She took a minute to gather her breath. "Markus! I told you that Skye was visiting!" she chided him.

"Oh yes," Markus mumbled, suddenly acting like a child who had done wrong, my mother had that kind of effect. "But Kimiko, they had Grimm with them! I was only doing my duty."

"Those two Grimm have never hurt a person in their lives," my mother reassured him.

I coughed, looking over my shoulder at Bash who was playing chase the feather with Robin and a very irritated Spira.

"Come along!" my mother said, taking Andy's hand and mine before I could even sneak in a word. "There's so much to do and show you."

Andy politely held her back so she could run and grab our bags from the airship, saying our thanks to them for both of us. They had decided during the trip to return to the main port and after resting return back to Vale. Despite the invites we didn't know how long we'd be staying so we'd call them whenever we needed a ride back. Once Andy had returned with our bags the four of us and the two Grimm headed into town.

People were already returning outside to their shops and jobs, resuming everyday life. Little shops and restaurants below apartments and houses opened, filling the streets with activity. There were no buildings in town higher than four stories, I never knew the reason why but the largest buildings were the government ones. Business owners generally lived above their shops, their home and work as one. Streets were small but by no means were we fighting crowds, there were just the right amount of room for cars and wide sidewalks allowed people to roam about freely. You could really feel the Japanese architecture and mapping of the town, Andy was oogling at it all… especially the wide assortment of restaurants.

The Grimm were admiring their new surroundings as well. Spira chose to take to the skies though, finding it too troublesome to have her wingspan trapped by the buildings. Bash however was stomping in the lanes and causing panic to whoever saw him coming. Things were ameliorated though when a child fell in the street and began to cry. To the terror of onlookers it seemed like Bash was going to eat the kid but instead he used his snout to gentle nudge him back to his feet, sniffing him and tickling him with his wet nose. The kid suddenly forgot his fear, giving into his curiosity at this albino Grimm. He poked Bash's nose which made him sneeze, causing the kid to laugh and begin to play with this oversized teddy bear. That brought out other kids and soon he was surrounded by people, kids wanting to play with him and their parents trying to pull them away. A few ended up on his back, riding him with grins from ear to ear, too high for their parents to reach. Bash gave a cheery bark, licking some terrorized parents.

Mom hadn't said a word since she had come for us, only leading us through the city. Andy might have not noticed with her attention caught by my hometown, Robin riding on her shoulders and answering all her questions. She might have appeared her usual person but her aura felt forced, like she was only showing one side of it. I was afraid for what she was hiding.

"Oka-san," I said getting her attention, "are you okay?"

"Shhh, we'll talk when we get home," she told me

Her steady block made me feel like when I had tried to hide something bad I did as a kid, her knowing the whole time.

"Your kimono looks beautiful," I tried, only granting me a small smile from her.

Bash came over and nudged the back of my wheelchair questioningly, a troop of kids still clinging to his back.

"Bash, get those kids off your back. You would not make a good dad," I said, him whining in return.

With a huff of hot breath out of his nostrils he gently shook his body, the children squealing as they gripped on for as long as possible. One side at a time, he tipped the kids over and gentle deposited them on the ground, giving each a lick before they ran off or were scooped up by their parents.

After following my mother through the maze of town we finally arrive at my old house. I was so lost daydreaming about what could be troubling her I didn't realize it until Andy stopped my chair. When I looked up I was shocked. Home hadn't changed, they had repainted the walls, replaced some windows, but everything was the same. On the ground floor was my father's shop with some new signs but it had the tall tale signs of dust explosions, the oddly colored soot left over despite attempts to brush it off the walls. The sign still said proudly Magic Dust.

"This is your home?" Andy asked softly in awe.

"Yup, this is the house," Robin said when I didn't answer.

"I grew up here…"

"What are all those soot stains? They look like they're from explosions."

"They are from explosions," a boom went off, "just like that one."

"DA!" "OTO-SAN!" "MR. MIRIAGE?!" we all shouted at once except my mother, she just sighed.

He stumbled out of the front door, his thick apron covered in red colored dust and black soot, his hair standing on end.

"Hello riders of Grimm!" he bellowed, coughing as he fished in his pocket for his pipe.

"Now dear, what did I say about smoking," my mother said in a steely voice.

"Ah…" he stared at his pipe longingly before putting it away. "Right."

"Da! What the hell was that?" I asked, rolling up.

Combing his frazzled hair with his hands he removed the dark goggles he wore when he worked… or otherwise did some haphazard experiment.

"Huh, oh just trying to take apart a new engine Atlas came out with. Ya know, wondering how it ticks. Got to know it if I'm going to work on it in the future," he grinned.

"Oh Oto-san," Robin sighed, storming past him, "I'll take a look at it before you blow up the house."

We all stared at Robin, her confidence with dust technology rather astounding.

"She's already working on dust engines?"

"Yeah, haha. True prodigy I'd say, not saying that you weren't Blue but she's got a certain knack for it I'll say," he chuckled.

"Da please not the nicknames."  
Andy came up and gave my dad a hug, "It's nice to see you again."

"You as well, now come on, come on, into the shop. I'll show you what I've been working on," he said, leading the way inside.

The shop was as I remembered it but like the house had a few minor changes. It was part workshop, part storefront, displaying all manner of dust machines. Farther back was more of a mess, not just from the recent detonation. Tools were scattered, resting where they were used alongside machines in various stages of repair or dismemberment. Robin had already rolled up her sleeves and donned some red tinted welder's goggles, skillfully continuing where my dad had left off. She was humming some tune as she worked a wrench in something complicated.

"There," she said, laying down her tools and moving her goggles to the top of her head, "got it. Oto-san you tripped the combustion ignition when you tried to remove these components. See?"

"Ah, right, right. I should've thought of that, these things get more complicated by the day," he said, eyeing Robin's work.

"Well look at you!" I said, punching her in the shoulder. "PS you should keep those goggles. Definitely fit you, kind of a steampunk look," I said.

"Meh, I wore them to school a couple times. Some of my classmates gave me crap for them," she told me, scratching her head behind the goggle's straps.

A flash from Andy's camera made us all turn.

"So this is where you learned to be a dust mechanic Skye?" Andy hummed. "And this is where you grew up…"

"Hey Nee-chan," Robin interjected, eyeing my chair, "what happened to your leg braces?"

I thought I saw my dad wince. My mother's face turned cold though and she elegantly turned and headed upstairs. I swear that she left a blizzard in her wake. Did they know?  
"I uh, broke them during our last mission," I lied. "I really haven't… had the time to fix them so uh maybe you can help me," I offered at which she lit up like joy, "but later okay?"

Giving her hair a ruffle I didn't wait to hear her response, heading to the stairs that my mother took. My dad gave me a subtle nod as I passed by, grabbing the attention of Andy and Robin. When I reached the stairs my front wheels stopped against the first step. I remember these stairs and stared at them with the same disdain that I had when I last saw them. It was exactly like this, trapped in my chair and no way to get up and no way was I asking for help. Sighing in disgust I spun the puppet strings around my legs hastily. The quick wrap left parts of my legs numb but it was enough to walk up the stairs.

As I turned the corner at the top and passed through the curtain that hung over the front door I was battered by old memories. My own ghost haunted me wherever I went, like in the facility but all the images I saw here were hazy, broken, and most were of a much smaller me in a wheelchair. They each vied for my attention but as I walked I paid them no mind, I searched each room until I found my mother sitting and mending something in her lap. I went to her side, sitting on my knees and feet like her in the traditional Japanese style, an old habit whenever there was something wrong.

"Oka-san…" I said softly not to surprise her. "Is everything alright?"

She didn't remove her attention from what I now could see was a beautiful green kimono in her lap. That didn't surprise me, it was her family's business before she married my Da.

"Oka-san," I said again but when she didn't answer I started to get up to leave. She was never like this, I could only hope that she'd talk to me when she was ready.

Instead she put a hand on my lap before I could stand, holding me in place.

"You've become so thin now," she murmured, taking my hand. Pulling back the sleeve of my jacket she touch my bony wrist. "So thin…" she said again.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" I said, putting my hand on hers.

"I received a call two months ago from Beacon," she said, putting me in shock, "they explained that you had been… captured and taken somewhere. They couldn't tell me where or who took you. It didn't make any sense. I called Andy and asked her, made her tell me what was going on. She refused to tell me anything. I called your scroll but nothing. Then Andy called the other day and told me that they had found you after three months. I was overjoyed until she explained… everything."

* * *

I sat there frozen while my mother listed out what had happened to me emptily. She had forced Andy to tell her in detail what they did to me, how they captured me, and how they tortured me. When Andy would give no further information she went to Da. He told her about my real life at the facility, all the tests and agony I had to endure to be able to walk, how it was half training and half experiments. Then she made me tell her about all the time between me leaving the facility to applying to Beacon. That hurt the most I think, telling her that I lived as a bum.

"Why didn't you come home?" she asked, not in anger but in a sorrowful motherly voice.

"I don't…" no I told myself, no lying, "I didn't have the money and… I didn't want to come back here where everyone would look at me like a disabled person. I didn't want help I just wanted to get away from everyone. It would've been horrible too, I was an alcoholic and kept having panic attacks. I had to fix myself without anyone's help."

My mother was silent for a long while and I was mentally exhausted. I had tried for so long to keep the secrets of my life under wraps, for my own sanity as well as my family's. It was my burden to bear, not anyone else. They shouldn't have to share my pain and they also shouldn't pity me, this was my pain and I had wanted to keep it that way.

"I made this kimono," she said suddenly, laying it out in front of us, "for you in the hopes that you would wear it one day."

As she spread it out I saw how meticulously beautiful it was, realizing that the shimmering and silky green was meant to match my eyes. Subtle whitish blue wisps of clouds decorated its canvas with the occasional tiny bird hiding amongst them. It was simple but meaningful which gave it such a beauty.

"It's… amazing," I said, stroking the smooth silk.

"I had hoped that you would wear it for Andy, on your wedding day," she said stunning me.

Throughout all the time of returning I had forgotten of that. Reflexively I reached for my collar only to realize that Andy had the ring. She had the ring, I had told her and never finished my question, I had even told her of the message I left in the Coffin.

"I didn't get to ask," I murmured to her.

"Oh," that was all that needed to be said.

We sat there in silence for a while with nothing to say.

"We have not told Robin," she told me, "I don't believe it would be wise to tell her."

"Wise, yes. But she always has a way of finding out," I told her.

"So what are you doing home now?"

"To fulfill a promise to Robin, to fix my leg braces, and," I quickly related my condition to her.

She folded the kimono and placed it into its box before resting her hands on my face, my face that felt drained of energy and emotion after revealing so much.

"Don't think that I am mad with you my wonderful Skye. I am only sad that you did not share the burden of your experiences with us although they are completely yours to bear. No matter what happens in this world I will always be your mother and I will always love you," she told me, kissing my forehead.

I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her tighter than I have ever done.

"Thank you, Oka-san," I muttered into her chest unable to cry.

"Come on," she smiled, "let's go check on your father before he blows something up again."

I stood with her causing her to gasp, her eyes lingering on my legs.

"How are you…"

"Oh," I twirled around like a little girl, showing the sloppily wrapped strings of semblance, "it's another trick with my semblance."

As she fawned over my ability to walk while we headed back downstairs I explained to her how the puppet strings worked. She wasn't the bit set off that it was a trick and not a true healing of my legs but praised them all the same. We walked in to find my dad and sister already tinkering with the mechanisms of my leg braces.

"What are you doing?!" I exclaimed, seeing one of the most important things in my life being disassembled. Andy was scurrying about trying to stop them but was a nervous wreck.

"Oh relax Nee-chan, we haven't blown it up," Robin said, pulling up her goggles

"Yet," I added, stomping over to swipe the wrench out of my father's hand.

After Andy stopped me from beating up both of them they got to show me the huge progress they had already made. What surprised me was how they understood most of the inner workings of my braces, being as unique as they were but then again they were Atlesians and were familiar with the tech. With much begging on the part of Robin I activated my Coffin and let them examine that, although I kept hold of their tools so they couldn't dissect it like my legs. It chillingly reminded me of what I had left in it for Andy.

"So you can wear the armor with or without your leg braces?" my dad asked.

"Yup," I said, knocking on an armor plate, "I get a better neural connection with the leg braces on but in essence the contacts attach to the flesh and machine adaptor in my spine letting me control it. I actually need to do some maintenance on it too. Also I made this wristband that also gives me a measure of remote control of it."

The Coffin raised a gauntlet and waved as I thought the command it my head.

"Can I step inside it?" Robin asked, hardly able to disguise her giddiness.

"Sure. Coffin."

"Awaiting commands," it droned.

"Disable neural connections, activate manual mode," I said.

"Command confirmed."

"Ah, typical Atlas voice box," my dad commented as I helped Robin step into the boots, the whole suit dwarfing her small body.

"Yeah wish it had more of a personality."

"Hmmmmm… might be able to," my dad mumbled.

An incessant whining came from outside the shop accompanied by a sigh of a caw, the two idiots still outside and too big to get a house tour.

"The kids are getting impatient," I gasped, holding a hand over my stupid, stupid, stupid mouth. My mother snuck a very discreet and mischievous glance at me while Andy took a stutter step. "Let's go outside! Come on Robin!" I shouted, closing up the backside of the Coffin.

"WHOA!" Robin wailed, her voice coming through the external speakers and stumbling around in the huge armor.

"Relax," I said jumping ahead of her and briskly escaping outside, "just imagine you've gained about a ton of weight and are three feet taller and move normally."

Despite that she was like an oversized toddler learning to walk, crowded by an attention starved Grimm. Basher and Spira were both surprised to see the Coffin walking beside me, examining it with great intent. Robin tried to control the hyper sensitive controls while Spira pecked at an armor plate. Da was coming around to the Grimm, half examining my armor while Robin frankesteined around and half being examined by Spira. Her giant blue orb of an eye bounced from the person she saw that sired me thought, _he has more hair than you._ I held onto Basher and pet him to keep him a good distance away from Da when Andy came up beside me.

"Kids," she teased, a little red.

"Shuddap," I muttered, "it slipped."

It was a subject that we stumbled upon and broached over once or twice but tended to avoid. Sure we had uhm… plenty of sex but we were always too embarrassed to talk about the finer details. Plus we were both girls so that itself presented a monumental problem larger than Bash. Hell I wouldn't even know how to begin to be a mother but the thought of little mini-Skyes and mini-Andys frightened me to death. Their tails and ears would be kind of cute though… Yet, I hadn't even asked her to marry me yet. I could only desperately try to when we were both surrounded by a mob whose intent was to see us beaten to a pulp.

"Do you… ever think about it?" Andy asked shyly, putting a hand around my hip which made me shiver in a good way.

"I just thought about it right now. Their uhm… ears and tails would be cute," I muttered, burying my head into one of Bash's armor plates.

"Haha," she laughed a bit emptily, "yes, that would be very cute."

"I don't think I'd be a good mother though. I mean just look at how I ended up. Look at all the bad influences I've put on Robin," I said.

"Skye, don't say that," she kissed my head. "I think you'd make a wonderful mom."

"Nah, you'd be the good mom. I mean you always kept me out of trouble. You were always taking care of me," I remembered the many times back at the facility.

"Yeah but you had your own special way of taking care of me, and I don't mean your semblance," she held me tighter and I felt my body relax into her warmth.

We didn't say anymore, both I think seeing our dumb teenage selves at the facility.

"Come on, I think it's time for dinner," my mother announced after a little while, seeing the sun dropping towards the horizon.

"Oh, I've missed your cooking Mrs. Miriage," Andy exclaimed, always thinking with her stomach.

"Yeah, too much and you'll get fat!" I said, causing her to jab my ribs. "OW!"

"Please Andy, I've told you call me Kimiko. Mrs. Miriage makes me sound so old," my mother laughed.

"You're getting old aren't you Oka-san?" I teased.

"Oh you shush Blue Sky," she chided me.

"Oka-san the nickname again?!" causing everyone to laugh.

"But I was thinking we go out to town and eat, we can show Andy around and let her see the wonderful night life here," my mother said.

"That's great but could someone tell me how I get out of this darned thing!" Robin squealed from inside my armor.

I helped Robin out of my armor while my father went inside to grab a coat for himself and my mother. Grabbing my own coat and packing away the Coffin I joined everyone else, my father helping pull the shawl over my mother's kimono. We went out, walking alongside the streets since the town was small you could get practically everywhere on foot. Even then if you walked long enough you'd pass by half a dozen different shopping districts offering a very diverse selection of goods and service, especially food which was making Andy almost drool. Andy fretted over my semblance use but I told her that it would last long enough through the night, causing my mother to voice her worries. My Da and sister finally noticed that I was walking without my braces and I gave them the quick explanation, properly reweaving the strings over my legs so the hasty weave I did earlier didn't get in the way.

Mom did an excellent job as a tour guide, pointing out the interesting things along the way and naming almost every family and their business as we walked by. She was quite the people person in that sense, always able to strike up a conversation and somehow always able to please everyone at once. She was one hell of a negotiator when you got down to it. Andy listened intently but even more intently she watched me, sneaking in glances when she thought I wasn't paying attention. I grabbed her tail and yanked upward, causing her to jump and clutch it protectively.

"If you keep staring at me like that I'm going to have Bash sit on you," I joked.

"I'm just making sure Skye… you know…"

I gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, "It's just home silly fox and they're just memories. If my head decides to attack me I'll let you know."

She scowled in response as I wrapped my arm around her waist. Robin however noticed my shenanigans and stealthily started to try and grab Andy's tail. After the first time she caught it, Andy gave her hell, chasing after her and knuckling her head like she did to me. That didn't put of Robin though, whose continued attempts resulted in her getting whacked in the face by Andy's tail.

We arrived eventually at a small sushi restaurant, about to go inside when my mother caught the questioning eyes of Bash and Spira. The owner almost fainted at the thought of having to feed them but I reassured them both that the Grimm wouldn't be eating, much to Basher's whines and pleas. I ended up ordering them a few platters and bringing them outside, more to satiate their curiosity than their appetites. It was the first time that I saw Bash reluctant to eat something. Sure it was raw but it was also fish so he sniffed and nudge around the sushi until finally tonguing them into his maw. He cringed, scratching at his tongue with her paws like a child. Spira clucked her laughter, eating the rest of his portion.

Later that night when everyone else was asleep I slipped out of my futon, checking that Andy didn't wake. Her ears flicked unconsciously while she slept, always returning to a low droop. I tuck the blanket over her, heading down to Da's workshop. Night had left all silent, the only sounds that I heard were my own breath and the roll of my chair's wheels. Moonlight flooded through the windows, casting oblong and monstrous shadows off the shelves and tools. The Coffin was in the corner where I had left it, standing silently like a medieval suit of armor in one of the hallways of an ancient castle. It sprung to life at the command of my thoughts, turning itself around and opening its back to me. I pulled myself up out of my wheelchair, holding onto the edge of its shoulder as I used my other hand to place my legs into the slots for my feet. I activated the inner neural clamps, imprisoning my legs in their embrace and allowing me to stand with the Coffin acting as my exoskeleton. Sighing I touched the inner monitors, wondering what it was like for her when she did this, trying to imagine the torment of her mind, the mystery of the words that I had left her with.

"Coffin, play message left for Andy," I told it solemnly, forcing my head up and eyes open as the visor came to life.

The bright light blinded me, my eyes taking a moment to adjust from the darkness of the house. On the display was an image of the bedroom of our house in Vale, the unmistakable photo framed beside our bed. There was the sound of shuffling through the speakers and then I stepped into the picture, standing in front of the bed. The suit's camera zoomed and unzoomed, focusing until the image of me was clear.

"Coffin are you recording?" I said in the video.

"Affirmative."

"Save this message for Andy, to only be viewed by her, password is Andy."

"Affirmative."

I watched myself take a breath, looking away, looking for some way to begin but at the same time some way not to.

"Hey Andy," I said, finally looking up with a forced smile, "I'm recording this while you're out at Beacon. You know I figure that you'd be there a while and I'd have the time and… Heh, sorry for rambling…"

I took a deep breath in the video, "I'm leaving this message for you in case of emergencies, in case something happens to me or I am… unable to tell you this in person. If you're watching this then I told you about it and I am most likely dead, or very close to it.

"Firstly I want to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do whatever I did. It was probably something incredible stupid or me trying to protect you. I know, I know, you've told me time and time again not to but I can't help it. You're everything in the world to me and I can't help not protecting you. I've seen you too many times hurt and it breaks my heart. If the choice came down to it between my life or yours I'd like you to keep living. Please don't blame yourself and don't let the guilt of whatever I did weigh you down. I love you with all my heart and I want you to live. You deserve it and I value your life far above my own."

"Secondly… Secondly…" I paused, going over to the nightstand and returning with that picture. I sat on the bed as the camera had to refocus, staring down lovingly at the photo. "You know I love this photo. Out of all the ones we've taken this has always been my favorite. I remember when, when I surprised you at the first dance at Beacon with that dress. You've always loved me being girly. I loved that dress too, after I got over wearing it that first time."

Setting the photo down on the bed beside me I pulled out the necklace with the ring dangling from its chain.

"Secondly is this. If I haven't given this to you it's around my neck, if I have well… then I finally found a way to ask you. I bought this ring years ago after I had finished applying to Beacon. Back then I was broke, living from bounty to bounty, and half the time I was homeless. This thing cost practically all the Lien that I had saved up, or would've cost me that if well haha our story didn't touch the lady who was selling it to me. I don't know why I bought this thing. Back then there was no chance of me seeing you again. I didn't think that I'd ever see you again after leaving the facility. But now I realized that I bought it on the hope that if we ever did happen to meet again that I wouldn't hesitate to ask you because well, I still loved you.

"I hope that you said yes and I also hope that however I asked you was romantic enough. Please don't beat me up too much for not asking sooner. I mean the best and its tough enough for me to wear a dress for you let alone something the size of this."

I watched myself stand up and approach the camera until my face filled the screen. This close I could see how my green eyes quavered, they were full of regret and pain although I had tried to mask it all with a cheery smile.

"Lastly… Andy, my beloved and dearest fox, know that I love you. I love you with all my heart, with everything I have. I have given my life to you and sacrificed it for you. There are so many hopes that I… so many dreams that I wished we… I'm sorry, I love you," I said finally, disappearing off screen as tears swelled in my eyes. You could still hear my sobs as the recording finally ended.

The speaker had shut off along with the monitor but I could still hear my silent sobs. I couldn't wipe my tears, one hand on the holding onto the armor and the other pulling my legs out of the slots. My one leg flopped around as I tried to get my foot into one of the rests of my wheelchair. Cursing, I lost my grip on the Coffin falling from it and heading towards the cold floor. Hands caught me before I hit and I stared up at a solemn looking Andy.

"Andy?!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

She helped me into my chair, kneeling in front of me to wipe my cheeks clear of the tears.

"I heard your armor, no matter how much you try its footsteps are unmistakable," she said quietly, fixing her gaze on my eyes.

Her ears drooped flat against her head and her tail was motionless on the floor, instantly telling me what she was feeling.

"Andy I…"

"After you were taken," she said cutting me off, "and after talking with the authorities I ran back home with your necklace and the ring. I found your armor and stepped into it, saying my name like you told me to. I watched it over and over and over…"

"Andy I didn't mean to… it was for emergencies…" I tried to explain.

Her hand cocked back and slapped me with full force. Shocked I rose a shaky hand to my tender cheek, staring at her in disbelief.

"You spoke as if you were already dead! Like you accepted it!" she shouted at me. "You idiot! I spent every moment while you were taken looking for you, not sleeping, not eating, doing nothing except trying to find the next clue to where you were.

"Don't you get it?! I don't want to live without you, I'd rather die with you!" she said, reaching inside her shirt and yanking the necklace off her neck. She threw it and the ring at me as I fumbled to catch it against my chest.

"Just take it," she practically shouted before running back upstairs.

I stared at the stairs, expecting that Andy would come back, that this was all just some sick dream or flashback but no it was real. The ring was still in my hand as I clenched my fist around it, throwing it violently at the nearest wall. I threw it so hard that I fell out of my chair, slamming hard into the cold floor crying. Realizing what I had done though I frantically crawled over to the wall, shoving things out of the way until I found the ring again. I held it to my chest, cursing myself for being such an idiot.

* * *

For a while I laid on that floor. The silence gave away to panic. Panic gave away to my flashbacks. The flashbacks were only intensified by the sudden itching, the heat, and the cravings of my addiction. I didn't make a sound. Andy didn't come and save me.

I somehow found my way into my chair and left, heading for somewhere quiet but somewhere I didn't want to go. By some masochistic thought I rolled through the dark lit streets to confront my fears.

The place hadn't changed much in a decade a half, but in a way it was different. Things were smaller and I was bigger, rubble and broken bodies didn't litter the floor. The sirens were quiet. In the center of the plaza they had rebuilt the fountain that last time I saw it was smashed and spraying water in every direction. The cobble streets had been redone, the cracks and destruction covered up by new work. Rolling forward I stopped a few feet away from the fountain's edge, where I remember the Grimm standing. The images that I saw were so vivid, it's hairy and monstrous body standing over the crumpled body of someone I didn't know. Turning I went and stopped by the pillar of a building. That pillar was the last real thing I remember before blacking out, my little body slamming into its flat obelisk side.

Everything after that was a blur, snapshots of the aftermath. The androids from Atlas dropped down from the sky and fought back the Grimm before it got to me. People crowded around me, lots of sirens and emergency vehicles. I got a flash of my mom and Da crying as they pushed their way to my gurney.

I held my hands above my legs and tried to spin the strings around my legs but I had already used my power too much today. The silky white strings fluttered from my fingertip but lost their cohesion, fading into the air and leaving me tired. I wanted to stand, I wanted to show my past, these memories that I had beaten them but I was stuck in my chair as crippled as I was back then.

The dark sky above was bluing, the mixture turning it a dark purple. A soft whine came from behind me but I didn't turn. I knew he'd find me eventually and if he was there then the other idiot was likely nearby. He dropped to his haunches, crawling on the ground nervously like I was going to snap at him. Stopping next to me he kept half his head buried in his paws, whining softly as his attempt at puppy eyes stared up at me. I rested a hand on his ear, petting him softly to reassure him.

"Where's your babysitter?" I whispered aloud.

"Robin's sleeping on her," said Andy from behind us, "so she couldn't come."

My free hand started to scratch my neck vigorously, the addiction kicking me in the ass.

"What are you doing here?"

"Following Basher. Looking for you," I heard her take a couple steps closer. "You're scratching, the injections again?"

"No shit," I said, forcing myself to put down my hand. The itching persisted and now I got the hot shivers.

"You understand why I was mad right?" she asked somewhat guiltily but standing by her beliefs.

"Yeah I get it. But I wouldn't have done anything different. I still would've made that video," I told her.

After a while of silence she finally walked into my field of view, standing on the other side of Basher and resting a hand on him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"This," I sighed practically reverently, "this is where my accident happened."

"Oh."

We were both silent for a long time. I could sense Andy's eyes glancing at everything around us, trying to match every part with my story. She finally asked, "So where is the pillar that you were thrown into?"

"Right behind me."

She jumped, wheeling around and staring at the column behind my wheelchair. Quietly she walked up to it and hesitantly put a hand against its side. I saw the gears turning in her mind as she glanced from it to the center of the plaza, walking out to it and then glancing back at where I sat.

"We have to go to the hospital tomorrow," she said from across the plaza. "The Atlesian scientists called ahead to say that they had arranged transportation for us."

"Okay," I said more numbly than I wanted.

"I'm not sorry for what I said I mean it," she paused, taking a slightly softer tone, "but I am sorry for slapping you. I didn't mean to go that far."

"Kinky, I got it Andy," I said.

She nodded and left the plaza without another word, heading back towards the house. I took the ring out of my pocket and stared at it.

"Idiot."

* * *

The next morning Andy and I barely spoke. We played a silent game of avoiding each other, making it seem like courtesy when we didn't want to be in the same place or use something at the same time. It would've been cute if it hadn't been real. Robin didn't notice, she was too busy talking to me about everything that had been happening to her and about my armor and leg braces. Nothing escaped my mother's keen eye though and despite my reassurances that it was nothing she guessed correctly that Andy and I were at end with one another.

"So your leg braces…" my sister began as we were saying our goodbyes to Basher, we decided to leave him with the family for their protection.

"Hmmm?" I hummed, already listening to Robin's stories of her tattoo, a boy at school she was crushing on, and dealing with the parents on the topic of her becoming a Huntress.

"They cause you intense pain when they connect?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, the neural connection between the circuits and the flesh-machine adaptor in the lower region of my spine is a raw thing… like lightning," I said, rubbing the metal ports that were surgically inserted in my lower back.

"Okay but what I don't understand is that when you connect to the Coffin you don't feel that pain right?"

"Well that's because I have my leg braces on already and the armor uses them as a medium," I said, nothing really new there.

"But you can connect to it without your leg braces on without any pain though," Robin said rather nonchalantly.

"Yeah well that…" I paused, the slow rising euphoria of the notion making me feel like an idiot. "That's true… I never thought of that. I don't know, the armor was developed later, maybe it uses a different sort of connection," I said, accepting the pain of my leg braces as a fact.

"Hmmmm," my sister hummed.

I took her goggles and slingshotted them onto her face making her yelp, leaving red circles around both her eyes.

"Don't you go and start tinkering around with my livelihood now," I said, yanking on her ear.

"Owowowowowow," she wailed as I laughed.

I said my final goodbyes, stepping into the Atlas car. Spira stood beside it, she was coming along since she could keep up and also since there was no real way of saying no to her. Andy sat beside me a moment later and shut the door. We spent the hour long ride in silence, the scene outside my window changing from the peaceful countryside to a rambling and bustling city. Unlike Vale, technology and robotics covered every inch of the city it could. People dressed much more formally as was the style in Atlas, I was a horrible stain on their pretty suits and dresses.  
We stopped in the center of downtown in front of a massive, multi-storied white building. The holographic sign said Atlas General Hospital and when I looked outside there was an impressive welcome party to meet us consisting of a small army of medical androids and many people in white lab coats… my least favorite sight next to the hospital.

Shying into the far corner of the car I felt the itching of my neck increase and the panic flood my mind.

"Come on," Andy said, stepping out of the car and looking back at me.

"G-go ahead… I'm going to head home…" I muttered.

"Skye," she scolded me like a child, "we're not leaving Atlas until you're fixed and these people are here to help you."

"That's what they said at the facility too," I scoffed.

"Skye," she said commandingly, "I'm right here with you. Now… get out of the car."

Like a gopher peeking out of its hole I slowly crept out of the car, staying in Andy's shadow as we approached the group of smiling, and what I hoped were doctors. They crowded around us and I could feel their analytical gaze already stripping me of my flesh and clothes. Turning on my wheel I made a break for the car but a swift hand caught me by the hair, dragging me back to Andy's side. She kept a hand on my shoulder, more to hold me in place than to comfort me I felt. Her gaze was like I was a bad pet who had just shit on the carpet.

"Greetings!" boomed one of older doctors. He had a salt and pepper hair and thin glasses that were propped up by his nose. "Huntress Andy and Skye I assume?"

"Yes that is us," Andy replied.

"No you have the wrong people," I said with a spark of inspiration, "you see we're sisters just here for a checkup."

Spira shrilled as she swooped to the ground, landing beside us with a rush of air and sending a few of the doctors for cover. She took a protective stance beside Andy and I.

"You stupid duck," I said to her.

"Grimm Riders indeed," he said, inching closer when he was certain that Spira wouldn't eat him as a snack. "I am Dr. Schnizer, head of the hospital here. These," he motioned to the crowd of humans amongst the androids, "are some of my colleagues but I think you'll find Dr. Andros most interesting."

Another aged lady stepped up beside Schnizer. She was likewise dressed in the white lab coat but had a rather eccentric look compared to the other doctors. Her hair was purple and her eyes were a dazzling green like my own. On her fingers and wrists were an assortment of jewelry that revealed themselves to actually be a multitude of devices for purposes I couldn't even begin to guess.

She held out her hand and I took it. "It's a fantastic…" she gave Schnizer a look before correcting herself while speaking with an English accent, "I mean it's a relief to finally meet you Skye."

"Dr. Andros is the head of one of the finest research groups in Atlas. Her knowledge is extensive. She also worked with Kane," Schnizer explained.

"Formerly!" Andros correct as she saw my face turn to one of contempt. "We never agreed and well ended up kicking him out of the company," she laughed a bit forcefully.

Spira began to ruffle her feathers, her wings unfurling slightly in the way that she did when prepared for a fight. Her unease was plain and simple and I doubt they had enough androids present to stop her. I shared her sentiments, a coworker of Kane was a fiend even if she didn't like him. Just thinking about it sent streaks of panic through me, grabbing the armrests of my wheelchair with white knuckles.

"Relax," Andy whispered, giving me a peck on the side of the head. It kept me sane but didn't keep me from angry.

"As you can see, Spira and I have faced years of that man's so called experiments. Don't think I can let go of any animosity anytime soon," I said through gritted teeth.

"Ah," she said a bit taken aback, "I thought as much. His deeds have done this harm upon our society, a wound which we hope to heal here with time. I can understand if ya don't trust me because of my former association with that jerk but I hope this will help you trust me a little bit."

Andros shirked off her coat and what I saw astounded me once she had removed the elbow length gloves that I didn't notice before. Beneath her skin or maybe _in_ her skin, streaked blue lines that looked like circuitry made of fluid. They pulsed a light blue, like blood flowing through veins. The artificial veins covered both her arms and crept up her neck, from what her blouse revealed. She raised her long skirt slightly to reveal even more of the streaks covering her legs.

"What are…" I muttered.

"I am part machine, like you. In a likewise severe accident I was mortally injured. They told me that I wouldn't survive without drastic measures. Long story short love I lived but had 80% of my body replaced with artificial substitutes," she smiled and it was then I noticed a faint streak of blue pulsed up one side of her face.

The extent of her prosthesis astounded me, it was on a level I never would've imagined and put my leg braces to shame. I wonder how much pain she endured for her own procedures. It humbled me and gave me a deep found respect for the woman.

"I understand your agony," she said, kneeling down in front of me, "and I truly mean it when I saw that I want to help."

"Okay, but I still don't like doctors," I said trying to keep a shred of dignity.

Spira came over, causing Andros to stand a bit terrified. A gigantic Nevermore will tend to do that to you, her tremendous talons clacking on the ground. With a collective gasp, everyone watch as she lowered her head, first studying Andros with her eye before lightly tapping one of her legs with her beak, the same way she would as if it was Basher's armor or my Coffin. I'm guessing it was softer than she expected for Spira rose confusedly, cocking her head but in the end giving her seal of approval, a pat on the head with her beak.

"That means she likes you," I said as I wheeled forward reluctantly.

"Ah," Andros said, picking up her coat and escorting me towards the hospital. "What was she doing?"

"She usually taps my armor or my legs, it's a thing she does. Don't ask me why, she's an idiot," I said.

"Quite fascinating."

"You should see the other idiot," I sniggered.

We headed into the hospital, followed by the army of androids and doctors who I think were already taking notes on me. The lobby was an organized chaos, androids and nurses taking in appointments and various emergencies while many patients waited to be attended. We strolled passed them into the hallways beyond, Andros and Schnizer giving pointing out places of note. I found myself and Andy both giggling to the side although when both our gazes met we quickly looked away. We still weren't comfortable talking to each other.

"What's so funny?" Schnizer asked, after showing us one of their scan rooms.

"Andy would you care to explain?" I sighed, the onset of my headache annoying me.

"It's déjà vu," she said, taking the handles of my wheelchair to push me while holding my shoulder. "We met in the facility and we both given tours just like this. It's unnervingly similar and also very traumatizing," she explained offhandedly.

I listened as I fought off the flashes, wishing I could hold Andy's hand. Despite the reassurance by Schnizer and Andros I was like she said, traumatized by being back in a hospital. Rolling along on the edge of panic made me itch my neck viciously to try and ward off the addictive feelings.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," Schnizer commented, making a note on his scroll. "Strange, did you never seek medical attention for this?"

I had heard PTSD before and had denied it despite all of the matching symptoms.

"Our experiences… our pain… it was a very personal thing for us," I said softly, looking off to the side. "We didn't want people to know about it so we took care of our problems ourselves," was all I said to explain.

"I see," Schnizer said, stopping in front of a set of doors. "Well here we are," he said, leading us into the room.

Inside was an open space filled with instruments and diagnostic machines. There were nurses and androids already waiting for us and our escort of doctors went with their notes to consult one another.

"Alright Skye, if you'll just hop up onto the table please," Andros said, motioning to an exam table.

I froze, the panic finally breaking down my feeble mental walls. The itching and waves of heat became so intense that I swear my skin was on fire. Staring at the examination table I saw Kane and his cohorts, waiting with their torture tools to play a wonderful cacophony using my screams.

"No… NO!" I screamed, frantically trying to wheel myself around and make a roll for the door. "Not the table! Please anything but that! I'll be good! I'll do whatever you want! Please don't torture me! I can't! Not that!" I screamed deliriously.

"Wh-what's happening?!" Andros said, rushing to my side where Andy was holding me in place.

"It's a flashback!" Andy said, struggling at my attempts to flee. "Kane always used an examination table to torture her when she was kidnapped!" Andy shot as if it was their fault which it kind was.

She turned her attention to me, holding my hands. "Skye! Skye listen! You're not at the facility!"

"Andy?" I said looking up at her but then my old defenses took hold. "NO! YOU'RE NOT REAL! I KILLED YOU! YOU'RE NOT REAL!" I bellowed, pushing myself out of my chair.

Hands picked me up and wrestled me further into the room.

"Bring her to the table!" someone shouted.

"NO!"

"Don't you dare."

"Andy this is the only way, we need to restrain her so we can scan her."

"PLEASE NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! ANYTHING!"

"If we don't she could hurt someone!"

"Fine."

"Hurry nurse, sedative!"

The sweet feeling of drugs entering my bloodstream numbed my senses and flailing upper body.

"Oh yes… yes…" I mumbled, lulling into a semiconscious state as they hauled me onto the table.

"What's wrong with her? She sounded like she wanted to be drugged?"

"It's from the facility. Kane used some sort of drug on her to suppress her semblance. It was addictive and she's still dealing with withdrawal," Andy explained painfully weary.

I felt half a dozen presences hovering about me. There was the momentary blinding light as someone shined a flashlight into my eyes and then the subtle warmth of scanners being ran over me.

"Are these attacks always this severe?"

"Yes. They can get worse too. She's gone through a lot of suffering…" there was a pause. "Can you help her?"

"We'll do everything we can."

* * *

I don't know how long it was before I woke up. They had thankfully not used any restraints on me but people in lab coats staring down on me wasn't the most welcoming sight after waking up. Whatever they had drugged me with worked and felt great and I wanted a hundred doses of it for later.

"Ugggghhhh…" I groaned trying to sit up stupidly.

"Skye are you alright?" I heard Andy asked as she pushed through the doctors.

"Meh… What did they drug me with?" I slurred, trying to push myself of that wretched table.

Andros and Schnizer came over to help me into my wheelchair causing Andy to growl like an overprotective fox. It was pretty darn cute and I pet her tail once I was seated.

"It was a sedative at first… and then an anti-seizure drug… and then an anti-psychosis drug…" Schnizer listed them all out slowly. "Your system is extremely resilient," he stated in disbelief.

"Well I want to buy 10 years worth of all those drugs. Oh and I'm an alcoholic and recovering, not by my choice, addict. I'm not surprised," I chuckled.

"That's not funny Skye," Andy chided me.

Andros came up and put a hand on my wrist, another on my forehead and seemed to concentrate, her brow slightly furrowing.

"Uh… What are you doing doc?" I asked confused.

"I'm taking your vitals and doing a brain scan," she explained rather nonchalantly.

"Oh. Uhm… how exactly?" I said, noticing some rather unsettling things about her hands.

They had skin on them but it felt synthetic, like something about the texture was off or maybe it was my semblance telling me that. Another frightening thing was that they were cold, or more specifically colder than what a normal person's skin should've felt like. Every time one of her blue artificial veins pulsed it was a flush of chilled blood.

"Having an artificial body has its upsides as you can imagine with your leg braces. I've had some upgrades over the years to aid in my work. They come in handy," she smiled.

"Oh," I said, still soaking it in. A spark of curiosity however took hold of me, "Uh, doc?"

"Please just call me Andros or Eleanor."

"Alright, uh Andros, can you let me try something? With my semblance that is?" I asked.

"Sure, if it'll help you trust me more."

I took her hand, closing my eyes and focusing on the energy inside me. My body grew warmer like the embers of a budding fire and I could see the faint glow underneath my closed eyelids. I didn't want to heal her, I wanted to see what her aura and spirit felt like. It intrigued me, being more than half machine. Regular androids were empty shells with nothing inside them, my Grimm when I had tried once were a more vast emptiness but I was surprised to find a large presence floating about that abyss. As I extended the tendrils of my semblance through our hands I felt her shutter for a moment, my soul literally running along the circuits of her own. Her aura was strange, there was no doubt that her soul was there but it felt like a cathedral. The massive structure emanated warmth and knowledge but around it was an unbelievably intricate scaffolding. I could physically see the struts and crossbeams attached, cold and artificial holding up and supporting her soul. It was like she had accepted her artificial body into her very being. Respectfully I pulled away and extracted myself, slowly opening my eyes and seeing her in a different light.

Andros was staring at me in that way scientists did when they made a massive discovery. "That was fascinating. You were actually glowing. I could feel your consciousness and almost your soul. It tickled," she chuckled.

"Yeah my semblance is like that," I breathed after the wash of exertion passed.

"What did you do?" she said, fumbling for her scroll to take notes. Scientists.

"I wanted to see what your aura felt like, you know, with you being more than half…" I felt odd referring to how she was a cyborg.

"That goes without saying. What was it like?"

"Impressive and very unique, pretty much indescribable. Oh and you're human if that's any consolation," I joked.

"Skye that's rude!" Andy said, pulling my ear.

"Hahaha," Andros laughed as I wailed, "good to know. Good to know."

"If you'll allow us," Schnizer interjected, "we'd like to begin some scans to start if you're up to it."

I glanced at Andy who nodded back at me.

"Sure but one condition doc," I said as he looked up from his scroll, "no more exam tables please."

After that they began a battery of scans and tests, mainly focusing on my brain. Andy stood close by but out of the way of all the doctors. It was mentally debilitating and exhausting, like getting a tattoo I had to fight off the pain the constantly assaulted me. In this case it was the flashbacks although the drugs that they had pumped me with were helping. When I was about to have another attack they saw the symptoms immediately and put and IV into my arm. Whatever they added to the drug cocktail was a godsend, it numbed the barrage of mental lances that were trying to pierce my mind and let me focus on reality with relative ease. In addition to the scans they questioned me about my time at the facility, the tests and torture they did to me, what I knew of the device in my brain and the experiments, and the injections as well.

It made me uncomfortable as well as Andy. Whenever I looked her way nervously I could tell she was reliving the same agony as me. We both hated reliving or remembering our days at the facility in any way. Despite that she added in her own perspective and what she knew about the injections when the doctors asked.

Schnizer was pulling up a holographic scan of my brain using emitters placed around the room when Andros sat in a chair next to me.

"Skye, do you mind if I asked you a question?" she said as they super imposed my fleshy noggin in the center of the room and crowded around it.

"Shoot," I mumbled, resting my forehead against my hand, "you guys have been picking apart my life all day. Sorry, it's just… rough reliving the past. I hate it."

"I apologize but it helps us immensely, knowing everything we can. What I wanted to ask was may I examine your legs?" she asked.

I glanced up at her defeated, feeling like they had taken every bit of me away already but I nodded.

"Only if you can keep a secret," I whispered. She nodded.

Quickly I spun out the puppet strings and stood up from the chair, garnering a gasp from Andros. Shyly I peeled off my pants and sat back down in my chair, allowing her to look at my legs.

"Your semblance I assume?" she asked as she knelt in front of me and passed her arms over each of my legs.

"Another one of its secrets. There are many things about it I don't want to tell people. Things about it that I'm not very proud of," I told her.

"Yes I understand I believe. Your profile was quite redacted on your past and your semblance. We will keep it confidential if that is your wish. Lean forward please," I did as she asked, letting her see the mechanical ports that were drilled into my spine. "You know, they called me in specifically not only for my former association with Kane but also because of my expertise in the well prosthesis field I guess you could say."

"Ah," was all I could say.

"I was wondering why you didn't have your leg braces with you today?" she said, pressing her hand flat against my lower back likely scanning it.

"They were tampered with and I really haven't had the time to fix them," I explained, pulling my pants back on when she was done and releasing the strings around my legs. "I suspect that my sister and father are thinking about tampering with it," I added.

"Bring them in the next chance you get, I would like to see them," she said, finishing up her inspection. "Your body has taken well to its modification. Most we see some sort of rejection syndrome or some sort of infection around the implants."

"I was young," I said softly, watching Andy converse with the other doctors around the holo-image. "I was so young when they did this to me. I guess my body grew with it, like yours I suppose," I said a bit offhandedly.

"And how could you guess that?" she smiled, seeing through my comment. "Your semblance showed you something more indescribable?" she chuckled.

I cringed, getting found out. "When I touched your aura it felt like there was this sort of construction scaffolding helping hold up your soul. It was like seeing your artificial parts," I explained.

She pulled up a chair and sat down next to me, pulling her scroll out of one of those gigantic lab coat pockets. What amazed me was that she wasn't typing or putting any sort of input into it but text appeared at tremendous speed on the screen. Scans and pictures uploaded onto to it and it felt like I was watching a supercomputer's workings.

"Oh don't be alarmed. I am connected to my scroll through the touch of my hands," she put me at ease. "I am not surprised by what you felt, although I've never had my aura explained in that way. It's quite charming actually. You see my accident happened later in life for me. My body wasn't as young as yours and couldn't adapt to the prosthesis they gave me at first. More and more of my body had to be replaced and it frightened me. I didn't want to lose myself because that is what it felt like. I think in part why a lot of the surgeries were rejected by my body was because my mind was still holding onto my other self. Soon though I accepted it, took in the fact that I had to change to survive, that turning into well a cyborg was the only way to continue on. I guess it became more of a part of my soul than I realize."

"I'm sorry," I said, my own circumstances now quite insignificant compared to this woman's suffering.

"Don't be, it's fun to be able to do this," Andros blinked and the holo-image of my brain winked off.

All the lab coats whirled about to stare at us annoyingly and I quickly pointed at Andros beside me. She laughed, blinking again and turning the projectors back on.

"I'm just trying to let you understand me more Skye as I want to understand you more. I honestly want to help you as much as I can and I know the sort of distrust you must have. I only wish to relieve some of that. So with that, I would like to make some modifications, in time," she swiftly added, "to your leg braces to help improve your life. I know that it isn't something to be taken likely so take your time to think about it and tell me what you think."

I nodded, an estranged thought popping into my head, "Is there anything else you can do with that body of yours?"

"Hahaha," she giggled and gave me a wink.

Her hair suddenly changed in a waterfall of color from the purple that it was to a bright pink.

"Woah," I muttered as she laughed again.  
The day ended with them taking some more notes and final scans of my brain and body. They had wanted to keep me overnight to test for other things about the suppressant but we convinced them otherwise. I didn't want to stay in the hospital any more than I had too, despite growing more comfortable around Andros. She revealed herself to be quite down to earth, quirky, and extremely intelligent. It was apparent she liked to keep a more flighty personality, often teasing her colleagues to no end especially Schnizer. He reminded me of an old hermit, professional but a bit lost in his own work. When we exited the hospital Andros handed me a pouch with filled syringes.

"Anti-psychosis drugs mixed in with a little bit of sedative. We managed to whip this up from what we used on you today. It's not a cure but think of it as a stop-gap measure if you have another attack. Use it sparingly though, we don't want you addicted to another drug," she warned me.

"Don't worry," I whispered back, "I'm an alcoholic, drugs aren't really my thing. The only true addiction I have is to Andy."

Her face had a moment of surprise before smiling, pulling me into a hug. Andy finished talking with Schnizer before coming over to me. Spira had been perched on the top of the building, stories in the air. She was staring down at the handful of androids that stood outside watching her. I called out to her and she bounded down to the ground with a gracious swoop.

"If you'll wait just a moment we'll have a vehicle here shortly," Schnizer informed us.

"Thanks doc but no thanks," I said, grunting as I pulled myself onto Spira's neck, she having to bend down low to the ground. "We are Grimm Riders after all. Andy?"

She sighed, giving her thanks once again to the doctors before climbing up behind me. She avoided my gaze and was still standoffish, sitting behind me and grasping me waist. Spira stood to her full height and beat her wings down hard to get into the air. Hovering for a moment she grabbed my wheelchair with one of her feet before climbing into the sky. After gaining altitude and leveling out amongst the clouds her wings slowed and locked out, gliding along the air currents and rushes of warm air fronts.

I was thinking of ways to break the silence but no topics really seemed appropriate. They all sounded exactly like me trying to break the silence which was what I wanted and not what I wanted. Damn when did talking to Andy become so hard. Instead she spoke first.

"Why did you want to fly?" she asked, he voice right beside my ear.

"I like it up here, it's free, you know. It's nice after being cooped up in that hospital all day," I said.

"You know this is dangerous you not having your leg braces. You can't hold onto Spira properly. I have to hold you so you don't fall off," she shrilled.

"Maybe that's what I wanted," it would've been a nice flirtatious comment if I didn't shoot it out so maliciously. "Sorry," I muttered.

"Are you still mad at me?" I asked, subconsciously grabbing the ring that was in my pocket.

"Yes… and no," she told me. "Skye I love you and that's the problem."

I held my breath, my heart feeling like it had skipped multiple beats.

"I don't like it when you don't want to get yourself fixed. I don't like it when you put yourself in danger. You've been doing both!" she hugged me tighter. "I don't want to lose you," she said almost too quiet to hear, her face burying itself into my shoulder as her fox ears tickled the back of my neck. "You left me at the facility and then there was this kidnapping. I can't lose you again but the way you put yourself into harm's way for me," she paused letting things sink in, "it makes me wonder when your luck will run out."

I turned to Andy but a fox ear filled my mouth before I could utter a word, the familiar fluffy thing giving me an intense sense of joy. More than that though it was a gesture of what Andy really felt, knowing that I would chew or bite it eventually.

"Promise no more risking your life," she pleaded.

I bit down gently then pulled it out of my mouth, "You know we're Huntresses right?"

"Skye," she scowled.

"Does flying thousands of feet in the air count? Ya know not having my braces and all?"

"Skye!"

"I could fall off really easy like you said. Wait what about plugging in the toaster? I could always get electrocuted."

"SKYE!"

I reached for her tail and gave it a kiss, petting Andy's head over my shoulder. "I promise dork."

The days dragged on with the same routine. We would travel to the hospital, meet with Andros and Schnizer, and do more tests, more scans, more of the same hated stuff of my childhood. It was taking its toll. Attacks and flashbacks would come more frequently, sometimes before we even reached the hospital or they took me into that same room. Andy would inject me with the drug cocktail they gave us and it helped but I still wasn't cured.

I got to know Andros and Schnizer better. Schnizer had come from a high class Vale family, went to private schools and was an all-around nerd. He was a weird guy but loved his job at the hospital and was pretty genuine, working there pretty much since he graduated med school. That's where he met Andros and was faintly acquainted with Kane.

Andros was something else though. She came from practically nothing, a normal family working normal jobs and barely making enough to scrape by. That didn't stop her, working endlessly and studying through the night to get into a prestigious medical school where she met Schnizer and Kane. The more I learned about her, the more that I liked her. She was hard working but extremely quirky and didn't mind having fun. Apparently she took interest in the robotics field after her accident which she never talked about. That was fine, I rarely ever talked about my own and I could empathize with her. It was a touchy subject even if we had accepted it.

They had to take me off the drugs eventually to clear my system and test for any traces of the suppressant. Having their mix of, what I was told, a dozen different drugs apparently had an effect when they tried to test my blood. I'll just say that the medical team all had their fair share of cuts and bruises, Andy and myself looked pretty haggard as the flashbacks intensified. Andros though took my pain to heart and did everything she could to help ease my agony. Another fun fact, her artificial enhancements makes her damn strong.

A week went past when Schnizer told Andy and I to take a break, they had enough information for the time being and thought that I could use a rest from the usual screams. I was thankful and I flew home on Spira practically limp in Andy's arms.

It was late afternoon when we got back home. The sun was high in the sky and gave my face a warm caress whenever the cool mountain breeze took a breath. Spira had to land in a nearby plaza being too big for the small roads and the house not having a good roof access for my paraplegic ass. Andy unfolded my wheelchair for me, catching me as I half slid and half fell off Spira's neck, pushing me the short walk back home.

When the front of dad's shop came into view I shot straight awake and filled with outrage, seeing a very dirty and frazzled haired Robin with her tools scattered around my leg braces.

"ROBIN ARIA MIRIAGE!" I bellowed, rolling my chair like a charging chariot at her.

Jumping as my voice pierced her thick headed skull she flailed with her tools, one going flying and the other knocking her goggles askew on her face.

"Wh-what, wh-wh-what, wh-what?!" I stuttered as a skidded to a stop in front of her, grabbing her by the collar of her hoodie and shaking her like a rag doll. "Whatareyoudoingtomylegbraces?!"

"Nee-chan!" she wailed, flapping her arms like wings and swatting at my arms holding her up. "It's not what you think!"

Andy caught up with me, I knew by the solid whack she gave me in the back of my head, making me drop Robin who fluttered to the ground.

"Skye! Your sister is not Basher," she scolded me, going over to check on the twerp.

"Well she's might be as stupid as him!" I shouted, rolling over to my braces to see how bad the damage was. I hadn't had the time to do full repairs, between traveling and the hospital I really only had time to do a diagnostic to find out what was wrong and begin untangling the mess Kane had left.

"No you don't understand, I fixed it," she said, sliding the goggles back onto her head.

"What are you talking about, this thing is brok-," I stopped midsentence and stared at the open panels of my leg braces.

She was right, the little idiot had fixed my leg braces. As I checked each compartment and all the complex circuits with an open mouth I found that everything was as it should be. Robin had untangled the wires and refit them to the correct circuits, repairing or remaking the ones that were destroyed. All the actuators in the knees were newly greased and reset, the artificial muscles had even been rebuilt.

"You're right…" I muttered astonished. "Robin! Come here!" I barked.

She jumped, reluctantly coming to stand in front of my chair.

"Skye, be nice," Andy cautioned like the angel on my shoulder.

I rose a hand and saw her shut her eyes which made sling shooting her goggles over her eyes easier. She yelped, pulling the goggles up once again to see me pulling her into a tight hug, tears swelling beneath my eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled, thank you, thank you so much you idiotic, stupid, defiant, retardedly genius sister of mine," I said, biting her ear for good measure.

She leaped back, scrambling towards my leg braces nearly tripping over the tools she had lying about.

"That's not all, that's not all!" she said, dragging them over to me. "Here, put it on!"

I looked at her a little taken aback at how insistent she was but played along, Andy helping me climb out of my chair and get into the braces. With an arm around her neck I reached back and hit the startup sequence, preparing myself for the usual shock of pain. The skeleton arms whined softly as they clamped around my calves and thighs, the extra small fingers collapsing over my knees. Last was the hip band and the drilling of the neural probes into my…

I stared in shock at Andy, standing on my own legs for the first time in a long while.

"What, is there something wrong?" she asked, noticing my expression.

"I didn't scream," I said astonished, glancing at Robin.

"What do you mean you didn't… you didn't scream…" Andy whispered, the tears building in her own eyes as she covered her mouth with a hand.

I shot over to Robin, falling to my knees and taking both her hands.

"How?"

That idiot looked like she was about to cry too, grasping with her black, grease covered hands.

"I noticed," she began softly, "that your exoskeleton didn't cause you pain when you got into that. It confused me. I couldn't understand why when they were both fundamentally the same thing why your normal braces would cause you so much pain to connect when your armor didn't. So, I examined them both."

The face I gave her was called the 'oh really' look.

"Okay I disassembled both of them," she admitted, "but I put them back together! Well, I found that the neural connections were vastly different. Your armor used a port to port connection while your braces connected directly to your spinal cord. I, uhm, tweaked your braces spinal interface using the tech from your armor."

I hugged her again, raining kisses on her forehead until she had to fight me away and wipe the drool with her sleeve. Running over to embrace Andy quickly I kissed her on the lips as well.

"It was a pinch! All I felt was a pinch in my back!" I exclaimed, grabbing her hands and jumping.

We celebrated the rest of the day, Robin the star and pinnacle of all my praises. Da surprised us too when he also reluctantly admitted that he had been tinkering with my armor. He had replaced the generic and monotone voice of the Coffin with a snarky butler personality. It was more than I could asked for of him and my sister. Andy and I took my family out, treating them to whatever they wanted in town. We ate, drank, laughed, and took photos of every moment.

My mother also had a gift to give me. The whole time I had been back home she had watched and bared the burden of helping me through the flashbacks that I had. She contributed by trying to find a passive way for me to cope and gain control over the frantic parts of my mind. We had tried her tried method of kimono making to give me something to calm me but it was too tedious a task. She also chided me every second for being so clumsy with them, eventually relenting to the fact that I was ill suited to something so delicate. In the end we had settled for a sort of meditation with an assortment of medicinal teas. I found the smell of them brewing and their taste to ease away some of my terrors. The thing that worked the best though was singing, mom goading me into reluctantly using my hidden talent. I just couldn't bare the embarrassment half the time to randomly burst out into song.

When we had to return to the hospital we ended up bringing Robin along. More accurately she snuck into the damn car when I brought along my leg braces. Damn kid was following in my footsteps. It made me proud and irritated beyond belief. Mom had quite a long and heated talk with her over the scroll when we got to our destination. That didn't put off Andros who was ecstatic to see another machine nut. All three of us fawned over tech and my braces while Andy again went to listen into Schnizer's spiel over scan and test results.

Andros after examining my legs finally revealed why she held such an interest in them. She wanted to upgrade them for me, or rather when she finished detailing her plan, totally remodel them. She told me she wanted to make them sleeker, more discreet so that they'd hardly be noticeable, and give their internals an update to current day tech. I quickly agreed and we began work immediately. The most surprising offer, after she found out that my little sister had already fixed the issue with the pain of them connecting, was to integrate them fully into my body. With my circumstances, she guessed correctly that I didn't want to surgically remove my legs and have them replaced so instead told me of how she could graft them to my skin and bone. That would effectively make them one with me and take away the need to ever have to take them off again.

For that I couldn't decide for myself. I had to talk with Andy about that. If there was one thing I knew it was that she loved me for who I was and who I was, well that was a girl without those leg braces. It was that girl in the photo that she loved, lying on the bed not able to walk because that was a girl without the shield of her clothes and her ability to walk to hide behind. I wouldn't say that Andy loved me not being able to walk but it was who she knew. Andy didn't give it a second thought and told me to go for it. Well she actually clouted my ear pretty bad, wondering what I was thinking, possibly turning down such an offer.

So by the end of that week I had my surgery and when I woke up I could walk and run. The new braces were paper thin, conforming to my legs and wrapping around them like straps. They pulsed a vibrant green with life, new technology Andros had said that was derived from her own prosthetics. Instead of the usual wires and circuits they utilized a new form of liquid technology alongside more regular artificial muscle. Those you couldn't replace but the circuit boards and electronics that controlled them certainly could making the braces as compact as they were. Another neat perk was a camouflaging outer layer that could mimic my skin tone almost perfectly, the inch wide straps that ran down and across my legs practically disappearing. I honestly couldn't be happier with Andros' work. She told me that in extreme cases I could remove them if I needed to, for maintenance or any other reasons but there was no need to ever have to take them off like I did every day.

As I dawdled over my new legs with the newfound joy of a little girl receiving a pony Andy and Schnizer came over wearing grim expressions.

"What, what is it?" I asked happily as if nothing in the world couldn't dampen my spirits.

"Skye," Andy said seriously, "there's a problem."


End file.
